


When You Were Mine

by fortunata13



Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:11:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 67,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunata13/pseuds/fortunata13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU in which Cara and Kahlan have a long and complicated history. When Kahlan learns that Cara is in trouble, she decides to come to her rescue. There's an interesting cast of characters in this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Days of incessant rain had reduced all of Aydindril to one big puddle. It was difficult enough weaving through the crowd of reporters and trial junkies without having to deal with this storm. She was already running late; this weather, coupled with having to elbow her way into the courthouse, wasn’t helping matters.

“Does the defendant have counsel on record?” The judge asked, looking over at the clerk.

“No, Your ––”

“She does, Your Honor,” said a beautiful brunette swooshing into the courtroom. All eyes were on her, except the defendant’s. Cara shut her eyes the moment she heard that familiar voice.

Walking the rest of the distance to stand next to her client, she placed her briefcase on the table, and said, “I move for immediate dismissal, Your Honor.”

The prosecutor was on his feet. “On what grounds?” he asked, throwing his arms up in frustration.

“Simmer down, Mr. Cypher,” the judge said before turning to the defense attorney. “Nice try, Ms. Amnell, but this isn’t going away that easily. It is, however, a pleasure to have you in my courtroom again. Always so full of surprises.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” she said, smiling at the judge. The prosecutor rolled his eyes. Kahlan Amnell was the last person he wanted to face in a courtroom.

“Arraignment and bail hearing set for today at 1PM.” The judge slammed down his gavel and disappeared into his chambers. The bailiff returned Cara to her cell; thirty minutes later, her attorney was allowed to confer with her.

Cara stared blankly at the wall, not at all interested in making eye contact with her attorney. “Cara,” Kahlan said, tipping her head.

After several minutes of deafening silence, Cara asked, “Why are you here?” Kahlan rolled her eyes. Cara wasn’t going to make this easy. Then again, nothing had been easy between them for a very long time.

Kahlan leaned forward with both her hands on the table. “Because I know you didn’t do this.”

“Really? I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.”

“I know you, Cara. You’re many things but a coldblooded killer isn’t one of them. I’m going to get you out of this mess.” Her impulse was to reach out and cover Cara’s hand with her own, but too much had happened between them over the years. Kahlan knew better than to even attempt such a gesture. “You’re going to have to be honest with me.”

“And how do the rest of the Amnells feel about you defending a Rahl?” She looked up at Kahlan for the first time. The Rahl name was sure to get a rise out of her.

“You are not a Rahl, Cara, you never were, and there are no other Amnells because he killed them all, but you already knew that.” She shook her head; Cara was as frustrating as ever. “What they did to you ––” Just then, the guard opened the door, indicating their time was up. “I’ll see you at the arraignment.” As Cara was walking out, she felt Kahlan’s hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to get you out of this mess,” she said a second time.

Kahlan spent the next three hours at the coffee shop across the street from the courthouse going over the mountains of incriminating evidence the prosecution had against Cara. She’d only decided to take the case a few days ago. It was a bad idea, she knew it was a bad idea, but she also knew Cara didn’t have anyone else in the world. 

Cara was accused of a triple homicide, her adoptive father, Darken Rahl, the head of one of two warring crime families, among the victims. The Rahls and the Amnells had been at war for years –– except that for almost a decade, it had been a one-sided war. Kahlan’s father met his maker in a car bombing that wiped out half a city a block; Kahlan’s mother had died years earlier –– before her husband turned to a life of crime. The Amnell girls were finally out from under their father’s thumb and never looked back.

His death didn’t stop Rahl’s vendetta. He wanted every Amnell on the planet dead. Kahlan was right, Cara wasn’t a Rahl but somehow she’d spent most of her life caught in the crossfire between the two families. None of that mattered now, not with Cara facing life in prison, or maybe even the death penalty. The two of them hadn’t seen each other in almost five years –– not exactly the reunion Kahlan would have liked. That last meeting had been an awkward one, an unplanned encounter in the hospital room of a mutual friend –– not a single word had passed between them. In fact, Cara couldn’t even bring herself to look at her.

***

“How does your client plead to the charge of first degree murder, Ms. Amnell?”

“My client enters a plea of not guilty, Your Honor. I request that my client be released on her own recognizance.” She said it as if this were a petty theft case, not one of the biggest murder trials in the history of Aydindril.

“Your Honor, if ever there’s been a flight risk, it’s this defendant. I move for denial of bail.”

“My client has no priors, Your Honor. Denying her bail would be a travesty of justice.” The possibility of Cara being kept in custody, awaiting trial for months, was a death sentence in itself. Rahl’s grip reached far beyond the grave.

“Her entire life is a prior,” the prosecutor snapped, glaring at Kahlan.

“Counselor, another outburst like that and I’ll hold you in contempt. Approach the bench, both of you.” The trial hadn’t even started and already the judge realized this was going to be a dogfight. “Listen carefully, you two. I won’t have my courtroom turned into a free-for-all. Whatever personal issues you two have, I suggest you work them out on your own time. Bail is set at $10,000,000. The defendant will also be required to wear a monitoring device at all times.” With that, he banged his gavel and walked out.

“Ten million,” Kahlan mumbled, shaking her head. Cara looked back at Kahlan over her shoulder as the guard walked her to the cellblock. It was all Kahlan could do to keep from bursting into tears. “I’ll see you in the morning, Cara,” she called out, not at all sure that her client heard her. “Oh Cara, where am I supposed to get a million dollars by tomorrow?”

Michael Cypher smirked as he walked past her. He had his own reasons for wanting to bring down Cara Mason –– most of them having to do with his little brother, Richard.

In the hopes of avoiding the hordes of reporters waiting outside the courthouse, Kahlan took her time gathering her things. By then, Cypher had probably delivered a dozen venomous sound bites to the press but she couldn’t worry about that, not when Cara was still in lockup.

Much to her surprise, there was one person left in the back of the courtroom –– yet another face from the past. “Denna,” Kahlan said with as much contempt as she could manage, “here to gloat?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Denna said with a chuckle. “How is she?” she asked, dropping the faux bravado she wore as a permanent shield.

“She’s in a lot of trouble,” Kahlan said, her voice softening more than she would have liked. For as much as they hated each other, they both had a lifelong soft spot for Cara.

“You’ll have the bail money in your office in the morning. Don’t tell her it came from me.” With that, she turned on her heels and walked out.

“Oh Denna, you’re still in love with her,” Kahlan said, once the blonde was gone. “Cara Mason isn’t the type of girl you ever get over, is she?” Kahlan hated taking the money from Denna but it would have taken her at least a week to get hold of that much cash –– law-abiding citizens don’t keep that type of money stashed under their mattresses. Cara would have probably been dead by then.

The next morning, Kahlan gingerly opened the bail bondman’s door. “Chase,” she said, as she walked into his office.

“Kahlan, it’s good to see you. You’ve been gone for too long.” He gave her a hug and walked back behind his desk. “Sit, please. What’s up?” He was still the same grinning hulk of a man she remembered.

“I need to post a million dollar bond for a client,” Kahlan said.

“That’s a huge wad of cash, K. Am I going to have to send my bounty hunters after this guy?”

Kahlan took a deep breath. “It’s not a guy, Chase. It’s Cara.”

Chase gripped the edge of his desk and shook his head; all of Aydindril knew about this case. “I don’t know, K, what you’re asking me to do might get me killed. I have a wife and two kids to think about.”

“Chase,” Kahlan said, closing her eyes for a moment, “the three of us were kids together. She’s as good as dead if I don’t get her out of there, Rahl’s people’ll make certain of it.”

He stood up and looked out the window for a long moment. “She was a plucky little thing, wasn’t she? And so pretty,” he said, looking at Kahlan over his shoulder. “I had a crush on her since the first day of school.”

“Me, too,” Kahlan said, with a sad smile on her face.

Chase sat back down at his desk fiddling with his beard. “My wife is going to be so fucking pissed at me if I get killed for doing this.”

Kahlan ran around the desk and threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much,” she said, “I won’t forget this.”

***

After all the paperwork was finished, Kahlan paced up and down the hallway for almost an hour, waiting for the guards to bring Cara out. “What happened to your face?” Kahlan asked as soon as Cara walked out.

“I fell,” Cara said. She had a shiner the size of Texas, and a fat lip to go with it. “If we don’t get out of here, I may fall again.”

Kahlan took hold of Cara’s elbow, and without saying a word, walked her to the car. “Where’re we going?” Cara asked.

“My place,” she said. “The address on your license is the Rahl mansion; you can’t very well stay at the scene of your alleged crime. The monitoring system was installed this morning. Please don’t make this a thing, Cara.”

“Are you suicidal?” Cara asked without a trace of emotion. “Every thug in town is looking to collect the price on my head. I don’t even know how you got anyone to agree to secure my bond.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing you’re staying with me. You always did make me feel safe.” Cara didn’t like it one bit but it was either stay with Kahlan or go back to jail. Neither choice was to her liking. Kahlan did have a point; at least if they were together, they could keep each other safe.

Once they got to Kahlan’s apartment, Kahlan iced Cara’s lip and tended to her eye. For as much as Cara couldn’t bring herself to look at Kahlan the day before, now she couldn’t take her eyes off her. She was holding Cara’s chin up with her left hand, and putting ointment on the cut above Cara’s eye with her right hand. Kahlan still had the softest hands in the world, and she still smelled like spring. “Keep the ice on your lip a bit longer,” she instructed.

“Why are you doing this?” Cara asked.

Kahlan considered the question for almost two full minutes. “Because you’re still the best friend I ever had, and the first girl I ever kissed, and the one person in this world I believed in. And because I know you’re not a killer.” She turned around and walked into the kitchen before Cara could say anything –– not that she knew what to say.

Cara was already eyeing the monitoring system; bypassing security was one of her specialties. She’d make her move –– that was a given –– but not yet. “I can’t believe you still have this place,” she said, looking around the apartment. “I would have thought once you left Aydindril, you’d never look back.”

“After I moved to the West Coast, Dennee lived here for a couple of years –– until she finished school. We never got around to selling it.” She walked out of the kitchen holding two plates, the contents of which looked surprisingly edible. “Don’t look so shocked, I took cooking classes for an entire year.”

Cara pursed her lips and nodded approvingly. She didn’t have much of an appetite but she ate anyway. “I prepared the guest room for you,” Kahlan said over dinner. “Some of your…all of your stuff is still in the closet.” Her eyes traveled from Cara’s head to her feet, and said, “Most of it probably still fits you.” Cara looked up from her plate, staring at Kahlan for a long moment. She’d kept her stuff, for ten years, she’d kept Cara’s stuff in her closet for a decade. “I couldn’t just toss your things out, Cara.” She said it in a small voice –– almost as if she were ashamed of it. “It’s been a long a day, we could both use some rest.”

Cara nodded, and cleared both their plates. She stopped midway, looking over her shoulder, and said, “Thank you.” Kahlan tipped her head with a sad smile on her face. They were like strangers now, the two of them. Sure, they both wore the same bodies, but they weren’t the same people, not anymore.

In an attempt to free herself from the stench of lockup, Cara showered for almost an hour. The scalding hot water pummeling her back felt like a thousand daggers piercing through her skin. She needed the pain to keep it together –– without it she’d crumble to pieces. Learning to mine the strength in pain had been Darken Rahl’s gift to her.

When she walked out of the bathroom she glanced into Kahlan bedroom. She was bent over her desk going over a stack of papers, wearing a white camisole with her hair cascading over her shoulders, and holding a pencil between her teeth. Kahlan was still the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world.

Cara walked into the guest room, her room, and sat on the bed. After a short visual survey, she determined that everything was exactly as it had been the last time she’d been there. She was too tired to even attempt to find meaning in it so she curled into a tiny ball and drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t until the next morning that she realized she’d fallen asleep clinging to Ragedee. That’s the name her three-year-old self had given the rag doll her mother made her for her third birthday. Kahlan had kept her, too.

Just then, Kahlan knocked lightly on the partially open door. “Can I come in?” she asked. Cara nodded. She was sitting on the bed with her knees hugged to her chest holding the doll. Kahlan sat on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair away from Cara’s eyes so that she could look at her face. “Your face looks much better,” she said, handing Cara a coffee mug.

“Thanks,” Cara said, “for the coffee and the face.”

“I see you found Ragedee.” She picked up the doll and pressed her to her nose. “No child has ever loved anything as much as you loved this doll.”

“She’s aged well,” Cara said with a shrug.

“She has.” Kahlan paused for a long moment, trying her best to summon up as much diplomacy as possible. “So, I need to go file some motions at the courthouse and run some errands. I’d very much like it if you were still here when I get back. I’ll be out a million bucks if you’re not, and you’ll probably be lying in a shallow grave somewhere.”

Her assessment was totally on point. Cara had noticed Kahlan noticing her checking out the monitoring system. “You have my word.” Kahlan smiled, Cara’s word had always been as good as gold; she wanted to believe that was still true.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Kahlan realizes that this case is much more complicated than she ever imagined. There's also a bit of back story dealing with the death of Kahlan's mother and the devastating effect it had on so many lives.

“Kahlan,” Cara said, “where the hell have you been? I thought something…” She paced in front of her, wringing her hands. Kahlan had been gone for hours. “It’s almost midnight.” Cara looked as if she were having a full-blown panic attack. She was shaking like a leaf, cold beads of sweat covering her face and chest.

“Cara, baby, calm down, please.” Kahlan wrapped her arms around her and held her in place. “I’m here, Cara. Everything is fine.” She pressed her lips to Cara’s temple, and ran her hand up and down her back until she finally calmed down a bit. “I’m going to make us some tea. Is that okay?” Cara stared out into nothing and nodded.

“Here we are,” Kahlan said, placing the tea cups on the coffee table. “I didn’t mean to worry you. Time just got away from me. I filed twenty-seven motions in your case. Thirteen of them were over fifty pages long.”

Cara was still rattled. “This isn’t going to work, Kahlan. Having me around is going to get you killed. I can’t have that. Do you hear me? I can’t have it.” She was working herself into a frenzy again. Kahlan had never seen her like this. Even in the most difficult of times, Cara kept it together better than anyone. Something had happened to Cara, and whatever it was, it must have been bad.

“Listen to me, Cara, we’re safe here, I promise you.” She got up and walked across the room. “These windows,” she said, picking up a chair and slamming it against the glass. “Bulletproof. The locks meet Department of Defense security standards. I have anti-wiretapping scramblers in every room. If nothing else, my father taught me about extreme security measures.” She walked back to the sofa and sat next to Cara, with her arm across her shoulders. “I’m not naïve, Cara. I took every precaution for your safety and mine. Even my car is armored.”

“You should get some rest. I need to be alone for a while.” The last thing Kahlan wanted was to leave Cara alone but she knew better than to push her, especially in her current state of mind. Cara turned off the lights and sat in the dark for three hours. Kahlan released a sigh of relief when she heard her walk into the guest room. Bad things had happened to Cara, she was sure of it.

***

Kahlan woke up to the unmistakable aroma of pancakes and cappuccinos. “Cara,” she said, smiling into her pillow. When she walked out of the bedroom, she was reminded that Cara was a neat freak. Her apartment hadn’t been this tidy in, well, ever.

“Sorry for the drama last night.” She was wearing her old Nirvana T-shirt and a pair of obscenely tight boy shorts. Cara was still the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world.

“You should have been here last week when I saw a spider. That was drama.” Kahlan smiled; she was doing her best make this strange, new Cara feel comfortable. It was going to be a difficult day for them both, might as well keep it light over breakfast.

“Well, you still make the best pancakes, and this coffee is delicious. Have you considered venturing out into lunch?” Cara shook her head, breakfast foods had always been her specialty.

Kahlan placed the dishes in the sink and replied to a few emails. It was time to talk about the murders. She sat on the sofa next to Cara, took a deep breath, and said, “Cara, I need you tell me what happened the night of the murders.”

Cara was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her chin resting in her hands. “A bunch of people died.” She stared at the floor for a long moment. “That’s what happened.”

Kahlan had her game face on, and her tone was even and calm. Given Cara’s mental state, the last thing she wanted was to allow her own emotions to get the best of her. “Your prints were found on the gun, and there was gunpowder residue on your hands when they arrested you. Tell me exactly what happened at the Rahl mansion that night.”

Cara furrowed her brow and covered her face with her hands. Then she got up and walked to the window. She tapped her forehead against the glass over and over –– every tap harder than the one before it until they became hard bangs. Kahlan flew off the sofa and wrapped her arms around her from behind. “Cara, baby, stop please.” Her voice broke almost as if she were about to cry. That’s what made Cara stop.

Cara turned around, leaning on the window pane, and looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what happened,” she said. Kahlan’s lips parted; that wasn’t at all what she’d expected. “I don’t remember any of it. I woke up in lockup. Everything was a big blur. The days all blended together. Then I heard your voice when you walked into the courtroom.”

Kahlan took hold of her elbow and guided her back to the sofa. “What do you remember before lockup?” Her hand was unconsciously rubbing Cara’s arm. “Tell me your last memory before that.”

“Mexico,” Cara said; Kahlan wasn’t expecting that either. “That place with the big pyramid, I was there.”

“The Pyramid of the Sun?” Cara nodded. “Why were you there?”

“On a job. Rahl sent me on a job to Mexico City but I wanted to see the big pyramid so I went there first. I climbed all the way to the top. There’s this big metal hook and you grab it to suck up the good energy, or something like that.”

“What happened after that?”

Cara shrugged. “I woke up in lockup.”

“Cara, there’s almost three thousand miles between Aydindril and Mexico City.”

“2678, to be exact,” Cara said.

Kahlan sighed and rubbed her temples. How was she supposed to mount a defense when her client couldn’t account for her time? “Your passport, do you have it?”

Cara shook her head no. “Just the clothes on my back.”

“It’s okay,” Kahlan said, “I want you to relax and if you remember anything, anything at all, write it down.” She handed her a yellow legal pad and a pencil. “I’m going to go down to the station and interview the arresting officer and the detectives who were on the scene. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Oh, and I’m going to get you a cell phone.” Cara looked up at her and nodded. It was as if she was there and not there all at once.

Kahlan sat in her car without starting the engine for a good fifteen minutes. Cara’s story was hard to swallow but, as with all her clients, she didn’t question its veracity. She’d been in this line of work long enough to know that the truth always comes out. Kahlan’s main concern, however, was whether or not she’d be able to maintain the cool detachment and equanimity that throughout her career had been her trademark. That was her gift, that’s what made her so good. Emotions never came into play when she was working a case; she examined the facts and read between the lines, nothing more. But this was different. This was Cara. Cara, who she’d known practically her entire life, Cara, who had been her best friend, her lover, and a source unimaginable heartache. Kahlan had lost a lot in her life, but losing Cara all those years ago was the one thing that had brought her to her to knees.

***

“Read the report, Ms. Amnell. It’s all there.” The officer leaned back in his chair with his hands interlaced behind his head, staring at her cleavage.

Kahlan looked down at the report for a long moment and then at the officer. “Yes, except there’s no mention in your report as to my client’s state of mind. Was she lucid? Did she seem impaired somehow? Were there any signs of trauma? And what about additional suspects? Did you question anyone else at the scene? You make no mention of it in your reports. This all took place at the Rahl compound, Officer Monahan. Did you pull the footage from the surveillance cameras? That place is a fortress, there’re cameras everywhere, not to mention dozens of staff members.”

“The Mason chick was standing over three dead bodies with a gun in her hand. There wasn’t much to investigate. She did it.”

Kahlan chuckled and shook her head. “It is going to be such a pleasure to put you on the stand, Officer Monahan. Really, shoddy police work makes my life so much easier.” She turned on her heel and walked out. There were still two detectives who had arrived at the scene after the arresting officer who needed to be interviewed. It was a formality since she already knew exactly what their statements would be. Still, they had to be interviewed separately which would take at least a couple of hours. Leaving Cara alone for the better part of the day had her on pins and needles. In her mind, as long as she was watching over Cara, no harm would come to her. It was a theory that had been proven wrong years ago but Kahlan could not quite let it go.

Too anxious to wait for the elevator, Kahlan ran up the five flights of stairs –– all the while fearing she’d walk into an empty apartment. She stood outside the door for a moment. On the off chance that Cara wasn’t gone, she thought it best to gather herself before turning the key in the lock. Once she walked in, it was all she could do to keep from throwing her arms around Cara who was sitting on the sofa exactly where Kahlan had left her –– with the legal pad and the pencil. Only instead of writing down any recollections of what had happened between Mexico City and Aydindril, she’d filled the pages of Kahlan’s legal pad with drawings. 

Kahlan’s lips curled into a lopsided smile. “You’re still so incredibly talented.” Kahlan had spent the better part of her childhood and teenage years sitting with Cara for hours, watching her draw and paint. “We were happy back then, weren’t we? Even with all the insanity around us, when it was just the two us, you creating masterpieces, and me as your muse, we were happy.”

Cara furrowed her brow. She remembered those days but it felt as if it wasn’t she who lived that life. She was a stranger to that world now. Except that being here with Kahlan made it all feel real again. “You declared yourself my muse,” Cara said, “when we were seven, you said you read about the Muses and you declared you were mine. I thought you said you were my moose.” She smiled ever so slightly –– just enough for Kahlan to feel certain that the Cara she knew was still in there somewhere.

“If we’re going to get you out of this mess, I’m going to have to ask someone for help.” She knew Cara would have a hard time opening up to anyone other than her, but it was non-negotiable. Getting Cara to remember was the only way to mount her defense. Even then, the overwhelming evidence against her made for a tough case to win. “I’m going to ask Zedd to help you remember what happened.”

“The old man? You think he’ll help me? After what happened to Richard?” She raised a skeptical eyebrow and shook her head. “I don’t see why he’d mind me spending the rest of my days in the slammer.”

“Cara, Richard loves you. He doesn’t blame you for what happened. No one does. Maybe you need to stop blaming yourself.”

“How is he?” she asked, walking over to the window.

Kahlan followed and joined her in gazing out at the rain. “He’s happy. The doctors are amazed by the progress he’s made. They think he may even walk again soon.” Cara shut her eyes for moment to hold back tears. “He and Nicci have a little boy, Nicolas. He looks just his father.”

“Nicci? Richard married Nicci?” Cara chuckled; Nicci didn’t exactly have a reputation for being stable.

“Don’t laugh,” Kahlan said with a chuckle of her own. “As crazy as it sounds, it works. Nicci adores him.”

“So you and Richard…” Cara trailed off, not knowing exactly what she wanted to ask.

“A complete disaster. After you and I… he was there for me. I leaned on him for everything and he never wavered. I thought I could learn to love him.” She sighed, recalling the misery that was their short-lived marriage. “Women who are exclusively attracted to other women have no business marrying men –– especially if they’re in love with someone else.”

“But the two of you are still friends?”

“It took time but, yes, we are. He’s living out west so we don’t see each other very often but he emails me a couple of times a week.” She rested her hand on Cara’s shoulder, and said, “Cara, I’m going to ask Zedd to come over tomorrow. He’s helped me with cases like this before.” She felt Cara tense up immediately, but that she didn’t say anything, Kahlan interpreted as a yes.

After a long silence, she asked, “Why does Mike Cypher hate me so much? Is it because of what happened to Richard?”

Kahlan thought for a moment; she hadn’t revisited those old group dynamics in years. “No, I think Mike hates the entire world. Richard was their father’s favorite; finding out that he was adopted only added insult to injury. Richard looked up to you, we all did. Mike wanted to be the hero but that was your job.”

“Some hero I turned out to be.” She walked into her room and shut the door before Kahlan could say anything.

Kahlan lay awake for hours, drowning in a sea of shared memories of a childhood gone horribly wrong. It was just her, Cara, and Chase back then, Dennee was still a baby –– Richard’s family wouldn’t move to Aydindril until years later. Everything began to fall apart after Abigail Amnell passed away. Kahlan can still see her, smiling that lovely smile. “Wake up, sunshine,” she’d hum into Kahlan’s ear every morning; Kahlan would throw her arms around her mother and giggle into the crook of her neck. Abigail was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder at the age of thirty-seven; six months later she was gone. Abigail Amnell was powerful, wealthy, and above all else, a woman of integrity. It was during her second term as Governor that she became ill. Kahlan was five, and her sister Dennee only two.

Wyborn Amnell –– in the Amnell family, husbands were expected to take their wives’ last name –– had been a loving and devoted father. Everyone said that losing his wife changed him somehow, but Kahlan didn’t buy it –– not even as a five-year-old. Wyborn didn’t want to be a father, he wanted to be the husband of a wealthy society woman and all the benefits that brought with it. After Abigail died, he assumed he’d have control of his daughters’ estate; he was wrong. While his wife did leave him a generous chunk of cash that could have lasted the average person a couple of lifetimes, the bulk of the estate was placed in an ironclad trust for the girls.

It wasn’t long before Wyborn had blown most of his money in risky get-rich-quick schemes –– causing him to have to let go of the girls’ nanny, and move into a smaller house. That’s when he decided to revisit his old stomping grounds in his native D’Hara. All the unsavory types he’d grown up with were still around. Within six months he was knee-deep in mob activities. For the most part, he’d leave his daughters to fend for themselves. To call them latchkey kids would have been far too generous.

When Cara informed her mother that her best friend Kahlan and her little sister hadn’t eaten in two days, Mrs. Mason, a saint of woman who Cara had never heard speak in anything above a whisper, marched right over and gave him a tongue-lashing that probably stayed with him until the day he died. With little Dennee on her hip, she took all three girls back to the tiny apartment in which they lived, bathed them, fed them, and put them to bed. Cara decided right then and there that her mom was an undercover superhero.

Kahlan can still remember that night. She and Cara slept on the top bunk while Grace, the Mason’s oldest girl, who had recently celebrated her twelfth birthday, slept on the bottom bunk with little Dennee. When Cara heard Kahlan sniffling under the covers, she handed her Ragedee and promised her that everything would be all right. Kahlan believed her. “I still want to believe you, Cara,” Kahlan mumbled as she dozed off, lost in those memories.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I think with this chapter, I've gotten most, if not all, of the back story out of the way.

Cara was already dressed when Kahlan walked out of her bedroom, yawning and stretching. “You’re up.” Kahlan said, “I’ll make the co ––” Cara handed her a cup before she could finish. Kahlan tipped her head and smiled. “I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to have you around.”

Cara shrugged. “When will Zedd be here?” she asked, ignoring the compliment she’d just received.

“At around three, which gives us some time to talk about your case.” Cara sighed; talking about the case was the last thing she wanted to do but she knew it was unavoidable. “Tell me about some of the other girls. Could any of them be of help to us? I know Denna was friendly with Zedd and Richard, maybe she’ll…” Kahlan trailed off.

“She’ll what, help?” Cara asked releasing a derisive chuckle.

“It’s worth a shot; she may surprise you,” Kahlan said. “How did she get out from under Rahl’s thumb?”

Cara pursed her lips and tipped her head. “That’s an interesting story. The short version: Shota Stein.”

“Shota Stein, the philanthropist?” Kahlan edged in closer and sat at full attention. “Now you’ve got to give me the long version.”

“There was a fire at her mansion –– you were away at school by then.” Kahlan nodded. “Her husband died, she was badly hurt. During the course of her treatment –– grueling shit; skin grafts, plastic surgery, all kinds of stuff –– she developed an Oxycontin addiction that turned into a full-blown smack habit. She’s clean now but it went on for a few years. Given her social status, she wasn’t about to cop heroin on a street corner; she went straight to the source.”

“How does Denna fit in? Did she light the match?” Kahlan asked, as always, thinking the worst of Denna.

“No,” Cara said with a chuckle. “Love her or hate her, Denna has a great walk, and for a former gutter rat, she cleaned up well. Denna mastered the art of seduction. Shota caught one glimpse of those hips sashaying up the stairs and she asked Rahl for a taste. Stein paid a pretty penny to make the arrangement permanent.”

Kahlan shook her head in disbelief. “Are they still…” she trailed off without finishing the question.

“Sure,” Cara said. “Denna got the old girl clean. From what I heard, she personally detoxed her a dozen times before it took. Denna’s living large. Stein gives her anything she wants –– including the occasional tryst with pretty boys and pretty girls.” She paused for a moment to let it all sink in. “Denna’s a self-serving bitch but I’ll tell you, she’ll be right there with the cockroaches when the nuclear holocaust hits. She’s a survivor and… all she ever wanted was a chance. Maybe Stein was her chance.”

The phone rang before Kahlan could ask about any of the other girls. “That was Zedd, he’ll be here in a few minutes. Everything you tell him is privileged, Cara, so unless it helps your case, nothing leaves this apartment.” She walked into the bathroom, leaving Cara to pace around the apartment. Seeing Zedd again after all these years made her even more nervous than the possibility of finding out she was a murderer. For whatever reason, the thought of the old man thinking poorly of her, or worse, hating her, put her stomach in knots.

Kahlan had warned Zedd that Cara had changed, that she wasn’t the girl he used to know. Zedd, in turn, warned Kahlan that the type of memory loss she’d described over the phone could be caused by a number of things, ranging from PTSD to traumatic brain injury, or maybe even drugs. Without knowing the specific cause of the problem, helping her remember was difficult at best, and dangerous at worst. It was only fair to explain all of this to Cara; she had the right to decide for herself.

Zedd and Kahlan shared a warm embrace as soon as he walked in the door. Cara stood awkwardly across the room watching them with her arms wrapped around herself. It wasn’t the type of body language either of them had ever seen in her before.

He smiled at her and stretched out his hand. “Cara, child, it’s good to see you.” Cara walked the distance to where he stood, nodded, and shook his hand. The first thing that struck Zedd was that Cara didn’t make eye contact with him.

“Is Richard okay with this? With you coming here to…see me?”

“Of course he is. You’re family, Cara,” he said, squeezing her shoulder. Kahlan smiled; she knew how much it meant to Cara to know that Richard was still her friend. He then proceeded to explain that he was going to induce a light trance state using a combination of hypnosis and some sort of herbal concoction. Zedd had a reputation as an old school stoner-type who ran with a hippie LSD crowd way back when; Kahlan and Cara both trusted him. “Now, Cara, since we don’t know what caused your memory loss, it’s impossible to predict exactly what will come up. Some of it may go well beyond what happened while you were in Mexico. You are in control of this process. The moment you need to stop just open your eyes.”

Cara sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Would you like me to give you some privacy?” Kahlan asked, looking between them.

“No,” Cara snapped, “stay. Please.” Kahlan smiled and nodded. After Cara drank the murky herbal concoction, Zedd had her lie down with her head resting on Kahlan’s lap. Within a couple of minutes, Kahlan felt Cara’s body completely relax.

“So tell me about Mexico,” Zedd said, once Cara’s eyes had closed.

“I saw the big pyramid.”

“When were you there?”

“May 12th,” Cara said, “I took an early flight so that I could see the pyramids. Please don’t tell Darken. I’ll be in deep shit if you do.”

“I’d never tell Darken.” He squeezed her hand as he spoke. “You know I don’t like him very much.”

“I fucking hate him,” Cara said.

“Going there must have been very important if you were willing to risk getting in trouble,” he said.

“I used to have a sister but I don’t anymore. She wanted to see the big pyramid more than anything so I went there for her.” Kahlan closed her eyes for a moment, suddenly recalling that Grace had an interest in pyramids. She’d read to her and Cara about them every night before bed. How could she have forgotten such a thing? 

“Did you go back to the city?”

It took Cara several minutes to answer. “No,” she said. Her breathing became erratic and her hands were trembling.

“What is it, Cara? You’re safe here. Nothing can hurt you here.”

“I felt something sharp in the back of my neck, a needle maybe. Someone covered my mouth and stuck a needle in my neck.”

Zedd and Kahlan exchanged glances, now they were getting somewhere. “You said he, Cara, are you sure it was a man?”

“Yeah, he had big hands that reeked of cigarettes. I reached back and grabbed him by the throat but then everything went black.”

“You’re doing good, Cara, you’re doing very good,” he said. “Can you tell me what happened next?”

Cara furrowed her brow, and gasped for air. “I was in a box, someone put me in and I couldn’t, I, I couldn’t…” She trailed off and opened her eyes, gasping for air.

“Cara, love, it’s all right, it’s all right,” Kahlan said, caressing her cheek. Zedd handed her a glass of water that she swallowed in a single gulp.

“I think we’ve done enough for today,” Zedd said. “It’s possible that more memories will come up, especially in dreams. For as best as you can, write them down. I’ll come see you in a couple of days.”

Cara stared at the floor and nodded. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

Zedd gave her a hearty pat on the back. “You did good, kid, you did very good.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Kahlan said.

“It would be best if you didn’t leave her alone for the next couple of days,” Zedd told her. “She may have nightmares or talk in her sleep. Just sit with her and try to reassure her, but don’t wake her.”

Kahlan released a deep sigh and nodded. “Thank you, Zedd.” She gave him a hug, and watched as he disappeared into the elevator. She was in over her head, way over her head, and she knew it.

Cara was already in the shower when Kahlan went back inside. Out of pure nerves, she made tea. She waited for almost forty minutes, staring at two cold cups of tea, before knocking on the bathroom door. “Cara, are you okay?” she asked. It took another couple of minutes for Cara to open the door.

“Yeah. I’m good.” She walked out with wet hair, wearing one of Kahlan’s t-shirts. “Sorry, I forgot to grab something to wear.”

Kahlan smiled. “Don’t apologize, it always did look better on you.” She glanced down at the tea cups but didn’t mention them. “Cara, I should have asked your permission beforehand. I recorded your session.” Cara shrugged, as with most things these days Cara didn’t have an opinion on the matter. “I’m going to go over the recording in case we missed anything. After that, I’ll destroy them.”

“I’m tired,” Cara said. “That stuff Zedd gave me sapped the life out of me.”

“Try to get some rest. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.” Kahlan sat on the windowsill staring out at the rain. Cara was a part of her –– perhaps the biggest part of her –– there was no way around it. Even after all these years, being around her brought it all back.

***

All roads led to Wyborn Amnell. Driven by his own arrogance and stupidity, he dared venture into Darken Rahl’s turf. His plan looked good on paper: intercept one of Rahl’s drug shipments and distribute it in D’Hara. That heist netted him upwards of ten million dollars. He could have walked away, he should have walked away, but he didn’t. Instead he gathered every mafioso in D’Hara and decided to live out his Godfather fantasy.

For Rahl, it was pocket change; those types of heists slid off his back like nothing. Even his attempt at siccing a couple of dozen two-bit gangsters on him, Rahl would have shrugged off. Things didn’t get ugly until Rahl discovered the identity of his would-be foe: Wyborn Amnell. The Rahls and the Amnells had been at war since the beginning of time. While Abigail Amnell was alive, Darken had the good sense to step away from his criminal activities. Abigail was known for her kindheartedness, but she took no prisoners. This would not have happened had she not fallen ill. Still, the moment she took her last breath, all bets were off.

None of this had anything to do with the Masons, not any of it. Yet four years later, they were all dead. All of them except Cara, that is. It happened on her ninth birthday. Cara wore the new dress her mother had made. It was white with pink and red flowers embroidered on it. Cara declared it the most beautiful dress in the whole wide world. They were going to have a picnic at the park; Kahlan, Dennee, and Chase were already waiting for them. Cara saw them on the swings –– they were less than a half a block away when Cara let go of her dad’s hand and ran toward them –– if she hadn’t, she’d be dead, too. Cara had taken maybe five long strides when the shots rang out. The bullets weren’t meant for them yet they lay dead on the ground with their little girl trying to will their blood-drenched bodies back to life. One of Rahl’s guys had been ordered to shoot up a building on the corner of 5th and Houston –– he’d jotted down the wrong address; he shot up the building on the corner of 6th instead. The Masons were good people, they didn’t deserve to die.

Darken Rahl treated the entire thing like a PR opportunity. He called a press conference denouncing the high crime rate in Aydindril and announced that he intended to adopt the orphaned girl. Cara was still in shock at the loss of her parents when she suddenly found herself living in the Rahl mansion. “Call me Daddy,” Darken said in a sugary sweet tone. Cara looked up at him and shook her head no; Darken backhanded her so hard her nose bled. “Call me Daddy,” he said at least ten more times. By then her left eye was swollen shut and she had a dislocated shoulder –– Cara didn’t shed a tear. When it became clear that she was willing to die rather than bend to his will, Darken relented. This was no ordinary child.

“Denna,” Darken called out, “clean her up.”

“Don’t be so stupid next time,” Denna said to her new sister.

***

Cara and Kahlan both ended up orphans but living under very different circumstances. Kahlan’s father had gotten blown to smithereens six months after the Masons died. With him out of the way, the Amnell estate took custody of the girls; their mother had taken every conceivable precaution to ensure that her daughters would want for nothing. They were back to living the life of luxury that was their birthright.

Cara, on the other hand, was beaten every day. Sometimes by Darken, other times by her so-called sisters. Denna, Dahlia, Garen, and the others knew better than to take it easy on her. If they did, Darken would make them pay for it. He took sadistic pleasure in watching the girls torture each other but Cara was his biggest source of frustration. She was unyielding, defiant, and brave as hell. On more than one occasion, he’d brought her to the brink of death but Cara would not break.

Denna was mystified by Cara’s resolve. She was the youngest girl to ever come into the house and the stupidest, Denna thought at first. But it didn’t take her long to figure out that Cara wasn’t stupid at all; she just wasn’t afraid to die. After one particularly brutal beating, Rahl’s doctor was brought in to treat her for two broken ribs and stitch up a deep cut that ran half the length of her back. Denna walked into the room, and without saying a word, she sat next to Cara and held her hand until it was over. “We’re not friends,” Denna said to her, “and I’m never going to stick my neck out for you, but you’re a bad ass, I’ll give you that.” Cara gave her a quick nod but didn’t say anything; she was in too much pain to talk.

It was two years to the day of her parents’ death that she found a way out of the compound. It required ingenuity and a whole lot of courage but she managed it. Rahl had changed florists; the new company did things differently. Every other Thursday, a delivery truck arrived at the rear entrance of the building to bring in fresh flowers and dump out the old ones. Cara jumped out of her bedroom window and into the back of the truck without even flinching; her room was on the 5th floor – the leaves broke her fall, just as she’d planned it.

When she made her way back to the city, she went straight to Chase’s house. That’s when she met Richard for the first time. The two boys helped her get to Galea, where Kahlan and Dennee were attending a swanky boarding school. She told them just about everything, leaving out only the most horrific of details. Richard was in awe of her. “Here,” he said, handing her his pocket knife, the $10 bill he had in his wallet, and his middle school letterman jacket. Both boys swore to tell no one; only one of them kept his promise.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Cara and Kahlan are starting to get more comfortable with each other, although an uninvited guest kills the mood a bit. And while going over the transcripts of Cara's session with Zedd, Kahlan finds some intriguing inconsistencies.

“No!” Kahlan heard Cara scream from the bedroom. Doing her best to abide by Zedd’s instructions, she sat on the bed and ran her fingers through Cara’s hair. “It’s all right, baby, I’m here, I’m right here.” Cara mumbled incoherently, tossing and turning for hours. All the while, Kahlan shushed her and tried to comfort her. She watched the fluttering of Cara’s lashes, the way her lips parted to take in gasps of air, the sudden moments of calmness that were quickly replaced by shudders accompanied by more mumbling. She could even feel the temperature of Cara’s skin shift from ice-cold sweats to a feverish flush. Her hair, damp with sweat, pressed to the side of her face as if she’d been running for hours. Was she running toward something or away from something, Kahlan wondered. Then it all stopped. Her breathing was even and calm, and her expression softened. The crease between her brows faded and all that was left was the rising and falling of her chest as the air filled her lungs. Kahlan closed her eyes for a moment and released a labored breath. She then crawled under the blanket and pressed the front of her body to Cara’s back. Witnessing Cara’s journey had exhausted her to such an extent that her limbs ached and her eyelids felt as heavy as her heart.

Cara was more than a little confused when she awoke to the feel of Kahlan’s arms wrapped around her. It had been years since anyone held her like that, like she was someone who mattered. Sex was part of the daily routine at the Rahl mansion, and perhaps she and Denna had shared something but it certainly wasn’t love, not as far as Cara was concerned. Love, or her memory of it, wasn’t a struggle for control. She lay perfectly still, allowing herself to feel. Kahlan made her feel, after years of numbness, Kahlan made her feel again.

“Morning,” she said in a small voice. A sudden clap of thunder shook the entire room just as the words left her mouth. The sound of the rain pounding against the windowpane soon followed.

“I…you screamed. I didn’t mean to…I must have fallen sleep.” Her arms were still encircling Cara’s waist.

Cara turned around so that they were facing each other. “It’s okay,” she said, tucking a lock of hair behind Kahlan’s ear. Kahlan’s heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst through her chest. Cara’s gaze was fixed on hers, making it impossible to breathe, let alone speak. “It felt good.” She leaned in, resting her forehead on Kahlan’s and rubbing their noses together. Kahlan’s lips parted and at that very moment she heard a key turning the lock to the front door.

“Stay here,” she said, jumping out of the bed, and grabbing a gun she kept in the dresser. Kahlan had the locks changed before she brought Cara home but she wasn’t taking any chances. “Who is it?” she asked, cocking the gun and aiming it directly at the center of the door.

“Your sister,” said Dennee, as she opened the door. “Our father taught us well.” She held up the lock pick for Kahlan’s inspection. Cara was standing in the bedroom with her hands on either side of the doorframe, still wearing Kahlan’s t-shirt. This wasn’t going to end well –– Dennee’s demeanor made that clear. Her hands were balled into fists and her jaw was clenched so tightly it looked as if a slight breeze would shatter it to pieces.

“Dennee, you do realize I could have killed you just now?” Kahlan uncocked the gun and lowered her arm.

“So it’s true, you are defending her, and apparently fucking her, too,” she said, glaring at Cara with as much disdain as she could muster. Cara shook her head and walked into the bedroom. “My son is dead because of her. Do you understand that?”

“Dennee,” Kahlan said, “don’t do this.” She stretched out her arm to rest her hand on Dennee’s shoulder but Dennee stepped away from her.

“Don’t do what, tell the truth? That even my dead son isn’t enough for you to see her for who she is?”

“Little sister,” Kahlan said, “you know Cara wasn’t responsible for what happened.”

At that moment, Cara walked out of the bedroom fully dressed with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, heading straight for the door. “No,” Kahlan said, standing between Cara and the door with her hand on Cara’s chest. “You gave me your word.”

That exchange between them was too much for Dennee. The way Kahlan’s voice broke as she pleaded with Cara, and the look in her eyes made it all clear: Kahlan was still in love with Cara; Dennee was more certain than ever that it would never change. She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. “You no longer have a sister.” With that, Dennee stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

“Kahlan, I can’t stay here. Your sister is right, I don’t belong here. I never did.”

“I love my sister with all my heart, Cara, you know I do. But she’s wrong, what happened wasn’t your fault,” she said, holding Cara’s shoulders. “Richard was there, he told me everything. It wasn’t your fault.”

Cara shook her head. “That kid would be alive if I’d never come into your life. Don’t you get it? Wherever I go, people die. Just let me go.”

“I’m not going to give up on you. We’re going to see this through. And as for Dennee, she wants someone to blame for the loss of her unborn child but that someone isn’t you.” They were both right. Cara wasn’t to blame for what happened but had she not wanted so desperately to be a part of Richard’s life, to maintain that one connection to her past, the incident that caused Dennee to miscarry and Richard to lose the use of his legs would never have happened.

“Then I’m in real trouble,” Cara said.

“What do you mean?”

“Clearly, my lawyer is a crazy person.” Cara meant it as an admonishment but Kahlan found the remark both amusing and reassuring. That she hadn’t made a single snarky remark since coming back into her life had Kahlan worried that perhaps the Cara she used to know was lost to her forever.

Kahlan tipped her head and smiled. “Everything is going to be all right.” Cara shot her a skeptical glance but Kahlan’s smile stayed put. Cara being snarky gave Kahlan hope, and she could live on that for as long as she had to. “Now stop slacking off and help me go over the transcripts of your session with Zedd.”

Reliving the contents of those transcripts wasn’t exactly at the top of Cara’s to-do list. Still, crazy or not, Kahlan was all she had left in this world. If reading transcripts made her happy then Cara was more than willing to read transcripts. She just hadn’t realized that by reading the transcripts, Kahlan meant analyzing every single word and asking Cara to explain why exactly she’d chosen that word. It was as tedious an undertaking as she’d ever embarked upon.

After almost two hours, Kahlan found something that piqued her interest. “Cara, look,” she said, pointing at a particular sentence then reading it aloud a dozen times. “Why did you say that? Why did you ask Zedd not to tell Darken?”

“Probably because I didn’t want to end up with a skull fracture.”

“Yeah, but it isn’t right.” She stood up and paced around the room. Something was off but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “When you were talking to Zedd, you were remembering events but you were aware that they’d already happened. Why weren’t you aware that Darken was dead?”

“Well, because he wasn’t dead yet.”

“No, Cara, he was.” She paused for a moment putting it all together in her head. “You were telling us what happened in Mexico but you knew you were in Aydindril, you knew you’d been arrested, you knew you were in my apartment talking to Zedd. Why would you not know that Darken was dead?”

“Because…” Cara trailed off. Her hand went to the bridge of her nose, squeezing it between her thumb and forefinger. “Something…there’s something that I…I don’t know.”

Kahlan noticed Cara was getting agitated so she put down the transcripts and rested her hand on Cara’s shoulder. “I need a break,” Kahlan said, knowing full well that Cara could see right through her little ploy. “Let’s have dinner. I’ll dice, you stir.”

Cara marveled at Kahlan’s skill with a knife; she’d forgotten that Kahlan’s father had trained his daughters in all manner of weaponry –– with an emphasis on knives. Once he’d gotten on Rahl’s bad side, paranoia set in full force. He became obsessed with his own safety and, to a lesser extent, that of his daughters. None of it saved him from the car bomb Darken Rahl’s men planted in his shiny, new Benz. It was sheer luck that kept his girls from blowing up alongside him. They’d both come down with chickenpox a couple of days earlier so they stayed home from school. Otherwise they’d have been in the car as well.

“Dinner is served,” Kahlan said with a smile. “I expect pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.” Kahlan watched intently as Cara took a bite out of the rack of lamb she’d prepared. When she quickly took a second bite and tipped her head, all was well with the world. Even under these less than ideal circumstances, having Cara around made her happy.

It took them almost an hour to clean up the kitchen –– at Cara’s insistence, everything had to be spotless. “How can you be so sure?” Cara asked. They were sitting side by side on the sofa, with Kahlan’s head resting on Cara’s shoulder.

“Sure of what?”

“Sure that everything will work out.”

Kahlan gave it some thought before answering. Given the preponderance of evidence against Cara, it was a pretty outlandish claim. “Well,” she said, “because of Nicci.”

“‘Because of Nicci,’” Cara echoed with plenty of skepticism. “What does that nutjob have to do with any of this?”

“Well,” she said, and Cara promptly rolled her eyes; that she was starting another sentence with well wasn’t particularly encouraging, “when we were in third grade she cast a protection spell on us –– or maybe it was a curse, I forget which of the two it was. But she said that as long as we were together, nothing bad could ever happen to us.”

Cara narrowed her eyes. “She also cast a spell that would allegedly turn our math teacher into a toad, and we’d all get straight As.”

“I got an A,” Kahlan said.

“So did I, but he didn’t turn into a toad. And by the way, we weren’t the only kids in that class. For all we know the rest of them got Ds.”

“There’s no evidence to support that claim. Therefore, she was still fifty percent right.” Kahlan crossed her arms, triumphantly awaiting a response. Releasing a deep sigh, Cara grabbed a throw pillow and whacked Kahlan on the head with it. “Oh, this is war,” Kahlan said. Cara tried to make a quick getaway but Kahlan took hold of the back of her jeans and pinned her down on the sofa. “Do you give up?”

“Never,” Cara said. Before either of them knew what happened, Kahlan found herself flat on her back with Cara lying on top of her. “Do you give up?” Cara asked, panting from the exertion of their little wrestling match. She rested her forehead on Kahlan’s, their lips a hairsbreadth apart.

“On you, never,” she breathed out gazing up at Cara –– those beautiful blue eyes filled with emotion.

For a moment, Cara was sixteen again and Kahlan was still her girl. She leaned in and kissed her just as she would have done back then, before everything between them fell apart.

Kahlan’s hands went to Cara’s cheeks, kissing her back as if that single act could turn back time –– making it so that Cara was still hers. Because in those quiet moments when she had the courage to get honest with herself, she knew that her marriage to Richard, and all her other relationships for that matter, failed because for all these years she’d lived for a single dream, and that dream was Cara.

When Cara remembered herself and pulled away; Kahlan felt herself shatter into a thousand pieces. “I…we can’t. This is a bad idea,” Cara said, jumping to her feet with her brow furrowed as she backed away from Kahlan. “We’re not those little girls anymore, Kahlan. No one can recreate the past. This is exactly why I shouldn’t be here.”

Kahlan rolled her eyes and chuckled as she got up. “Get over yourself, Cara. It was just a kiss, it didn’t mean anything. I’m just trying to get an old friend out of a jam. If you think it’s anything more than that, you’re sadly mistaken.” She grabbed her coat and headed for the door. “I have an errand to run, don’t wait up for me.”

“Wait,” Cara called out, but Kahlan was already out the door. “Fuck,” she said, clenching both her fists at her sides. She turned off the lights and sat on the recliner staring at the door until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

Kahlan stumbled in just before dawn –– more than a little tipsy –– and looking how Cara felt. “I told you not to wait up for me,” she said, wagging her finger before tripping on the coffee table and landing on Cara’s lap.

When she tried to get up, Cara pulled her back down, and wrapped her arms around her. “Sleep,” she said, kissing her on the temple. Kahlan nuzzled the crook of Cara’s neck and did as she was told; she reeked of vodka and of a perfume Cara had never smelled on her before.

Once she was sure Kahlan was out cold, she picked her up and carried her into the master bedroom. When she got into her own bed, she hugged Ragedee to her chest and shut her eyes, hoping to erase the mental picture of Kahlan in someone else’s arms. She told herself it was for the best. Kahlan deserved way better than some damaged soon-to-be convict.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we learn a bit more of what Kahlan and Cara have been up to during the last few years. As Kahlan put it, she didn't join a nunnery –– and neither did Cara. We also get more details regarding Cara's time in Mexico.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes, it took me forever to post this time around. I apologize but I've been busy. My employer is being a stickler about me actually working during, well, working hours. With the end of the year rapidly approaching, I have tons of work to do. I'll post as often as time allows, I promise. On the upside, this is a longer chapter than the previous ones.

Cara made pancakes as she had promised, and along with a cup of coffee, she placed a toxic-looking concoction on Kahlan’s nightstand with a sticky-note that read ‘hangover remedy’. Then she went back into her room and shut the door. About an hour later, Kahlan slipped a note under Cara’s door that read ‘thank you’. Cara wanted to be angry but she couldn’t manage it. Kahlan wasn’t her girl anymore; she hadn’t been for years.

After two aspirins and a stack of pancakes, Kahlan sat down behind her desk and read through more witness statements. The transcripts of Cara’s session with Zedd, however, were still gnawing at her. At the expense of her pride, she knocked on Cara’s door.

“What?” Cara asked as she opened the door. Kahlan knew she’d knocked for a reason but with Cara standing there in nothing but a tank top and white panties, she lost her train of thought for a moment. Cara tipped her head and said, “My eyes are up here.”

Kahlan raised her brow. “I know where your eyes are, Cara. Zedd called, he’ll be here in a few minutes so you might want to get dressed.” Kahlan started to walk away but changed her mind. “Can we stop this, please? We kissed, you made it clear that it isn’t what you want, things got awkward. It’s over, we’re both adults.” Cara shrugged.

“Zedd is coming?” Cara said, “I didn’t know he was…”

“I called him this morning. I keep coming back to that thing you said about not telling Darken. There’s something there, I’m sure of it. I hope you don’t mind.” Without even realizing it, she ran her hand down Cara’s arm.

“Your girlfriend might not like you doing that.” She turned around and stomped back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Cara was jealous; the mere thought of it made Kahlan want to do a jig but she managed to suppress the urge. There was nothing to be done about the huge grin on her face.

“Come in, Zedd.” Kahlan gave him a hug and patted his back.

“How is she doing?” he asked in a whisper.

“About the same,” she said. “Before you get started, I want to show you the transcripts from the first session. Cara is still getting dressed so we have a few minutes.”

Kahlan pointed out the sentence in question and did her best to explain what was bothering her about it. After reading it several times, Zedd agreed that there could be something there. Cara had been speaking in the past tense yet she referenced Darken as if he were still alive. They both considered that maybe Cara had gotten the dates wrong. Since her passport was gone, they had no way of confirming her travel dates so they theorized that Cara had been in Mexico at an earlier date –– before Darken was murdered and that’s why she spoke as if he weren’t dead. But even that didn’t make much sense.

The old man smiled when Cara walked into the living room. “My grandson asked me to give you a hug. I hope you don’t mind?” Cara’s eyes softened at the mention of Richard. She took a step forward and gave him a quick hug. “Let’s get to work,” he said.

“Would you like me to stay?” Kahlan asked in a small voice –– things were still awkward between them.

Cara sighed and rolled her eyes. “You know I do.” Zedd studied the exchange but, for once, managed to be discreet.

This time, he had Cara drink a different herbal mixture. “Holy toxic waste, that’s the rankest thing I’ve ever tasted in my life,” she said. “Are you sure you weren’t on Darken’s payroll?” Zedd shrugged and had her lie on the sofa with her head on Kahlan’s lap; Cara was tenser than she had been during the first session. Her eyes were closed but Kahlan could still feel Cara’s muscles twitching underneath her hands.

“Relax, baby, I’m right here,” Kahlan whispered, as she ran her fingers through Cara’s hair and massaged the base of her skull with her fingertips until Cara purred like a kitten. Kahlan would have happily spent the rest of the day doing this but Zedd not so subtly cleared his throat, indicating that they had to get started. Kahlan blushed at being caught deriving a bit too much enjoyment out of the situation but Zedd was used to it; he’d caught her and Cara holding hands under tables and stealing kisses in hallways more times than he could count.

“Cara, my dear, I’ve never been to Mexico. Can you give me some more details about your trip? I’m thinking of taking a vacation soon.”

Cara pursed her lips and nodded. “I flew into Mexico City. It’s a pretty cool place; the people are nice but they can’t give directions worth a shit. It’s a huge, sprawling city so I wandered around for a while trying to figure out where I was, but then I saw a sign for my hotel. It was a nice neighborhood; lots of bookstores, tea houses –– kind of a Euro vibe. There was this one guy standing on a corner playing a violin. He must have been as old as dirt, but man, he was feeling it. You could see it in his eyes, how much he loved what he was doing. When he finished playing, he smiled at me and patted me on the back as if it were me who had just done something awesome. I took a few pictures then I kept walking. It’s funny when you visit a place for the first time, everything is brand new and it makes you forget how much your life sucks. You see possibilities everywhere; it makes you feel brand new, but reality sucks you back in.

“Then I got a weird vibe; the kind that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I was getting all paranoid, like someone was following me or something. As luck would have it, there was a cab on the corner. The cabbie took me all the way to Teotihuacan –– that’s where the Pyramids are. Those Toltecs, man, they must have been ten feet tall. Those were the tallest steps I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Whatever Zedd put into that concoction got Cara talking. Kahlan and Zedd listened for anything that could possibly help the case, but as a bonus, they were completely enthralled by Cara’s storytelling.

“The whole time, though, I had this gnawing feeling…like an impending doom sort of vibe. Still, I did my best to take it all in. I went down all the passages and I climbed every damn thing. The best one was the Pyramid of the Moon. It’s not as big as the Pyramid of the Sun –– that freaking thing is gigantic –– but it’s, I don’t know, nicer. Since it’s all the way at the end, it’s not as crowded. It’s like I had my very own pyramid.

“But you know how it goes. Darken ruins everything –– even the fucking Pyramids, he ruins.”

Zedd and Kahlan glanced over at each other for a couple of seconds. “Darken ruined the Pyramids, how?” Zedd asked her.

“By being an evil fuck, that’s how. There’s no getting away from him. It’s like he’s got eyes everywhere. Wherever you go, no matter how stealthy you are, he’ll find you. It’s like you’re there, at the top of a fucking pyramid, then boom, you’re in a fucking box.”

“Was it Darken, Cara? Did he put you in the box?” Zedd looked at her intently, waiting for an answer.

“Probably. Who the hell other than Darken does shit like that to people?” Cara paused for a moment. “Look, I took an early flight. I wasn’t supposed to see them but I did. That’s why they put me in the box.”

“Let me get this right, Cara. You’re telling that you saw Darken in Mexico while you were visiting the Pyramids?”

“Yeah,” she said, “only maybe it wasn’t Darken. I don’t know, with so much weird shit going on, I can’t tell who’s who anymore.”

“So it wasn’t Darken because Darken is dead?” Zedd asked with his brow furrowed.

“Is Darken dead?” Cara asked.

“You tell me, Cara. I’m getting old so I forget things. Maybe you can help me remember.”

Cara’s breathing was becoming erratic just as it had during the last session. “All I know is that some guys filled the box with rats just like Darken used to do when I was little. I’m not going to lie, I was scared as hell. Look, I didn’t want to kill them, I really didn’t, I just wanted to make it stop.”

“Who did you kill?” Zedd asked, but before he got an answer from her, Cara opened her eyes and buried her face in Kahlan’s chest.

“It’s okay, baby, you’re safe here.” She ran her hand up and down Cara’s back; she was shaking and tears were running down her cheeks. It was as if she was caught between her memories and the present moment. “Zedd, do something.”

The old man knelt beside her and said, “Remember what I told you, Cara. You’re in control. Now close your eyes for a moment and open them again. You’re in control.” Cara opened her eyes and inhaled as if she were trying to suck air back into her lungs; she was clinging to Kahlan for dear life. “Stay with her,” Zedd said, squeezing Kahlan’s hand. “I’ll see myself out.”

They stayed like that for hours. It wasn’t until Kahlan looked up for a moment and noticed the sun was setting that she gingerly pulled away. “So what’s her name?” Cara asked, pressing her face right back to Kahlan’s chest. Kahlan chuckled a bit but didn’t pull away.

“Whose name?” Kahlan wrinkled her nose, thinking that maybe Cara hadn’t fully come out of the trance.

“Your girl. The one who wears the expensive perfume. I assume she has a name.” Kahlan smiled and threaded Cara’s hair, scratching her scalp with her fingernails.

“Her name is Sabrina, and she isn’t my girl. She’s…a friend.”

“Mm, a friend who rubs up on you –– like a cat marking its territory.”

“Oh, so when you walked out of my life you assumed I’d join a nunnery? Sabrina is a friend whose company I enjoy from time to time. That’s all you’re going to get.” She got up and headed for the kitchen. “You broke up with me, remember?” she said without looking back at her.

“Sabrina the teenage bitch,” Cara mumbled.

“I heard that,” Kahlan called out from the kitchen. “Now come help me with dinner.”

After dinner, Cara cleaned the kitchen while Kahlan busied herself transcribing the session notes.

This time around, Cara’s responses to Zedd’s questions only served to confuse matters further –– not to mention cause Kahlan to consider that maybe Cara had killed Darken and the others, albeit in self-defense. For as much as she didn’t want to probe into Cara’s painful childhood, there were questions that, as Cara’s attorney, she needed to ask. Cara was already in bed when she knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” She propped herself up her elbow, leaving enough room for Kahlan to sit beside her.

“When you ran away and snuck into my boarding school, you had cuts and bruises all over your body, and your arm was in a cast.”

Cara looked away; this wasn’t a topic she wanted to discuss. “I told you, I jumped out of a window.”

“I know, but your arm was already broken and you had scars that had already healed, scars that I’d never seen on you before.”

Cara grimaced and laid flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. “Living in that house was pure hell, Kahlan. Rahl wanted to break me, just as he had the rest of the girls, but I wasn’t like them. I was willing to die rather than break for him. In the end, even without breaking me, he won.”

Kahlan crawled under the covers and hugged her. “Baby, you were a little girl. And he didn’t win. You’re still here, that’s all that matters.” Kahlan paused for a moment and brushed the hair away from Cara’s eyes. “When Zedd was here, you said something about rats.”

Cara pulled away from her. “No, we’re not going to talk about that.”

“Baby, you have to trust me. I know this is painful for you but if we’re going to make this right, you need to tell me everything. We have to fill in all the gaps between Mexico and Aydindril.” Cara was trembling and losing her color. “But it can wait until morning.” She leaned in and kissed Cara on the cheek. “Try to relax and get some sleep.”

When Kahlan started to get out of bed, Cara grabbed her forearm. “Don’t go. Please.”

Kahlan smiled and stroked Cara’s cheek with her thumb. “Okay, but I need to change. I’ll be right back. I hope Ragedee doesn’t mind me stealing the covers.”

As she changed into her nightgown, Kahlan mentally counted how many ethics violations she’d committed since taking Cara on as a client. Once she hit double digits, she decided to stop counting. While the prospect of getting disbarred didn’t exactly appeal to her, keeping Cara out of jail mattered more. Kahlan slipped into the room without turning on the lights. Her heart was already pounding at twice its normal rate –– Cara’s eyes on her weren’t doing much to help matters. For the first time in the hundreds of times they’d shared a bed, Cara let Kahlan be the big spoon.

***

“I’ll be there in an hour. Yes, I know. I’ll have it ready on time.” She rolled her eyes. One of the partners at the firm had known her since law school. When Kahlan, a litigator with an impeccable reputation, asked to temporarily join the firm they had jumped at the offer. Now they were demanding more face time with her for the sake of luring big name clients. “When I came into the firm, we agreed I’d focus on the Mason case.” She hung up the phone and flopped herself on the sofa. It had been hard enough to tear herself away from Cara; having to listen to the senior partner’s lecture added to her frustration.

“Is everything okay?” Cara asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Kahlan’s lips parted as if she intended to answer, but with Cara standing there in an unbuttoned blouse and a pair of red panties, all she could do was stare. “Coffee,” she managed to say after a long moment.

“Right,” Cara said, as Kahlan watched her disappear into the kitchen –– the view from behind was just as tantalizing. Being around Cara was making her regress: Kahlan felt like a ball of raging teenage hormones. Mercifully, by the time Cara walked out of the kitchen, she had buttoned up her blouse.

“Thank you,” Kahlan said, doing her best not to ogle Cara’s long, lean legs. Maybe having shared Cara’s bed wasn’t such a great idea. “I’ll take it with me,” she said. “Oh, I’ll probably be home late. Don’t forget to charge your phone. Call if you need anything,” she said just as the elevator doors were closing.

Cara lay on the floor with the legal pad Kahlan had given her and started drawing. Her drawings were a jumbled mess of random shapes and lines –– all of them very abstract. But as she shaded in the negative space, images began to emerge –– the most prominent of which was the Pyramid of the Sun. She ended up surrounded by at least two dozen drawings spread all over the living room floor. She didn’t know what to make of them: were they memories? Were they products of her imagination? It was impossible to tell.

When Kahlan walked in, she found Cara asleep on the sofa. She was still wearing only panties and a blouse so Kahlan covered her with a blanket and bent down to kiss the side of her head. That’s when she noticed all the drawings scattered on the floor. She gathered them into a neat stack and took them into the bedroom. After looking them over for several minutes, she laid them all on her bed arranging them in various ways until they formed a narrative of sorts. Cara’s drawings were telling the story of what happened between Mexico City and Aydindril. It may not have been the entire story, but it was a big chunk of it. One of the drawings, however, didn’t fit. It was different than the others –– more detailed and carefully drawn, beautiful even. It held the image of a dove with a pair of eyes superimposed over it, a woman’s eyes with perfectly arched brows and thick lashes.

Sleep didn’t come easily for Kahlan. She had at least a thousand questions for Cara, who was still on the sofa sleeping as if she hadn’t a care in the world. At around six in the morning Kahlan couldn’t take it anymore, so she sat on the edge of the sofa and ran her fingers through Cara’s hair several times. When Cara finally showed signs of life, she quickly retracted her hand.

“What? What is it?” Cara rubbed her eyes, as she lifted her head to look up at Kahlan.

“Hey, you’re up,” Kahlan said, acting as if she’d had nothing to do with it.

“I guess,” Cara mumbled; if she suspected foul play, she didn’t mention it.

“Don’t get up. I’ll make the coffee.” Cara had no intention of getting up. She propped herself up on an elbow and watched the sway of Kahlan’s hips in that obscenely short nightgown. Cara hadn’t met that Sabrina person but she kind of despised her already.

Cara sat up to drink her coffee but before bringing the cup to her lips she tilted her head and stared at Kahlan for a moment. “You didn’t sleep,” she said. “Why didn’t you sleep?”

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “How can you tell?”

“Your nose, it’s red. You always get allergies when you don’t sleep.”

A smile tugged a Kahlan’s lips; that Cara remembered little things like that made her feel good, although she wished it didn’t. “The drawings you made yesterday…”

Cara shrugged. While she was drawing them, she’d considered that there could be something there but by the light of day it seemed like a huge waste of time. “They’re just random scribbles.”

“Cara, they’re not. Come look.” She dragged Cara off the sofa and into the bedroom.

“No wonder you didn’t sleep.” Cara scratched her head staring down at the bed. “There was no room.”

Kahlan chuckled and gave her a little shove. “I didn’t sleep because I was too excited. Take a good look at them. They’re telling a story.”

The way Kahlan arranged them made Cara feel as if she were stepping back into those experiences but something about that made her recoil. Maybe she didn’t want to remember, and if that was the case, the only possible explanation was that she’d done it, she’d killed Darken Rahl and the others.

“What is it?” Kahlan’s hand went to Cara’s cheek. “Talk to me, baby. You’re not alone in this; I’m right here.”

“Nothing.” Cara turned to walk away but Kahlan wasn’t having it.

“Oh, no you don’t.” She grabbed Cara by the crook of her elbow and turned her around so they were facing each other. “I’ve known you my whole life, Cara. You’re not a killer, you’re just not. So if that’s what you’re thinking, stop it.”

“I’m not so sure, Kahlan. I hated Darken; I laid in bed fantasizing about killing him every night of my life. What if I snapped? What if I just lost it and shot him?”

Kahlan thought for a moment, considering Cara’s choice of words. “You’re right. After everything you went through in that house, you could have snapped, and if you had, it’s quite possible that you would have blocked the memory.” Cara wasn’t sure if she should gloat at getting Kahlan to admit that she might be a killer, or panic at the thought that the one person who believed in her was starting to have her doubts. “But,” Kahlan said, holding up her index finger, “that’s not what the mountain of evidence the prosecution has against you shows. Mike Cypher’s case describes a premeditated murder motivated by greed and rage and jealousy. He claims you wanted Darken’s attention and his money, that you resented having to share him with the other girls. His case is pure fiction, Cara. You. Are. Not. That. Person.”

Cara raised both her eyebrows and pinched her chin with her thumb and index finger. “You’re right, I’m not that person.”

Kahlan released a long-suffering sigh, and said, “Finally.” She threw her arms around Cara and squeezed her so hard Cara thought she’d cracked a rib. That’s when they noticed that they were both half naked. “I, I’m going to go shower,” Kahlan said. Her cheeks were bright red and the smirk on Cara’s face wasn’t helping.

“I’ll make breakfast,” Cara said just as Kahlan was about to close the door. While mixing the pancake batter, she couldn’t help but contemplate how normal this felt –– she and Kahlan together just as it had been for years. For a second it felt good, really good, but it also scared the hell out of her. Cara considered herself a magnet for death and all other manner of trouble. She was damaged goods; she had been since that fateful day she witnessed the murder of her entire family. If Kahlan managed to get her out of this mess, Cara’s plan was to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. Kahlan deserved a good life and Cara knew full well that would never happen with her around.

Kahlan walked out of the bathroom with wet hair and a voracious appetite. “My pancakes, please.” Cara chuckled at the demanding tone in which she said it. She walked out from behind the kitchen counter and handed her a plate. “Thank you,” Kahlan said, with a nod and smile.

“Now then, about these drawings,” Kahlan said, dragging her back into the bedroom. “For the most part, they conform to the memories Zedd helped you remember. There’re the pyramids, the rental car, the syringe in your neck, that god-awful box.” Kahlan pointed at each of them as she spoke. “These two images…” She worried her lower lip for a long moment. “The eyes and the dove? How do they fit into this narrative you created?”

Cara studied the images for several minutes. “I get what you’re saying but I don’t know. I – I can’t think clearly, Kahlan. It’s like there’s a thick curtain between my brain and my thoughts. I know the answers are in my head but I can’t quite reach them.”

“There’s no use trying to force it,” Kahlan said. “Just try to keep track of any bits and pieces that start to come together.”

The moment the words left Kahlan’s lips, Cara rose to her feet. “Paloma,” she said, earning herself a quizzical look from Kahlan.

“The Spanish word for dove?” Kahlan said, furrowing her brow.

Cara nodded. “And also a name.”

“I take it those are her eyes in the drawing? Did she work for Rahl? Did you meet her in Mexico?” Kahlan waited not so patiently for Cara to answer her questions. “Come on, Cara, I need you to trust me,” she said releasing a sigh.

“Spain,” Cara said, “I met Paloma in Spain. She’s… a friend.” Cara looked as guilty as she felt.

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “Of course she is. I’m guessing long legs and a nice rack,” she said in a huff, and crossed her arms.

“I didn’t join a nunnery either, Kahlan.”

“You know what? I’m your lawyer, not your girlfriend. Just tell me how she’s relevant to your case.”

Cara thought for a moment trying to figure out why exactly Paloma ended up in her drawing. “She’s someone I saw every now and then –– whenever I traveled to Europe. I don’t know much about her, only that she’s a writer of some sort, a journalist, I think. Yeah, a journalist, she was definitely a journalist.”

Kahlan pulled out a legal pad and, without looking up at Cara, asked, “And what was the nature of your relationship? Did you correspond often? Did you talk on the phone?”

“The nature of our relationship was sex, and occasionally eating tapas. She emailed me sometimes –– mostly, you know, selfies.” Kahlan gritted her teeth. Taking Cara’s case had been a bad idea, a very bad idea. “We Skyped every now and then.” Kahlan didn’t have to ask what went on in their Skype sessions.

“Please spare me the sex tape details. All I want to know is why she’s in your drawings. Have you been thinking about her? Do you miss her? What’s the connection? Are you in love with her?”

Cara covered her face with her hands for several seconds. “Kahlan, I don’t even know what that means. For the past fifteen years my life has been pure hell. Sure, I fuck girls, lots of them. Mostly because I want to feel something, anything that remotely resembles a human emotion, but I don’t, because I’m dead inside.” With that, she stormed into her room and slammed the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Kahlan finally gets to vent all of the feelings she's kept bottled up for years. Best of all, she also gets to say the phrase, Catalonian booty call!

That conversation made it obvious to Kahlan that she could not maintain any sort of objectivity regarding this case, let alone detachment. Kahlan sat on the sofa with her knees hugged to her chest for almost two hours before finally acknowledging that she didn’t have the luxury of acting like a jilted lover –– which she most certainly felt she was. Putting aside her pride, she knocked on Cara’s door.

“Come in,” Cara said after a full minute of silence.

She sat on the bed and looked at anything and everything in the room that wasn’t Cara. “I’d love to say that I’ve evolved beyond any pettiness and resentment regarding what happened between us but I haven’t, and I doubt that I ever will. You hurt me more than you’ll ever know, and while I’ve worked really hard at forgiving you, I don’t know that I’ll ever get past it.”

“I never wanted to hurt you, Kahlan. I did what I had to do, that’s all.”

Kahlan released a deep sigh. “None of that matters now. I’m still your lawyer and I still intend to get you out of this mess.”

For as much as she’d promised herself after she left Aydindril that she’d never shed a tear over Cara again, the moment she walked out of Cara’s room and into her own, she cried like she hadn’t done since Cara broke up with her. She wasn’t naive, she knew Cara had been with other women but talking about it brought up memories of the deep depression she’d experienced after their break-up, the months of crying herself to sleep, the slew of bad decisions she’d made –– including her marriage to Richard. She remembered all the times she’d sat in her car and screamed at Cara, who wasn’t even there. “I hate you,” she’d say, at the top of her lungs. “I hate you and I love you.” It wasn’t just that Cara had broken up with her; Cara had abandoned her. She’d turned her back on her and never looked back.

***

It was two in the morning when Cara burst through Kahlan’s door. “I remember,” she said, before noticing Kahlan was sobbing into her pillow. “Kahlan, what’s wrong?” she asked, hopping on the bed and taking hold of Kahlan’s shoulder. “Are you hurt? Did something happen?”

“You happened,” she said between sobs. “You, the person I trusted more than anyone in the world, my best friend, the love of my life, you’re what happened to me.”

Cara shut her eyes for a moment and pulled Kahlan into her arms. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry for all of it, Kahlan. I’m sorry. I’m the sorriest person in the world. And you can hate me; in fact, you should hate me. I’m the worst thing that ever happened to you, I know that. But there’s nothing I can do to change it.” She held Kahlan until she fell asleep and even then kept telling her how sorry she was.

When she felt Kahlan completely succumb to exhaustion, she gently pulled away and returned to her own bed. Not knowing what to expect in the morning, she folded some of her clothes into a neat pile and tucked them into her duffel bag. As soon as the sun came up, she prepared breakfast, which consisted of blueberry pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, bacon, a variety of muffins, and two cappuccinos –– one with whipped cream, the other without –– and two lattes.

“I made breakfast,” she said to Kahlan –– without meeting her gaze –– as soon she walked out of the bedroom.

“I see that. Are we expecting company?” Cara shrugged, realizing she’d overcompensated a little, or maybe a lot.

It was twenty minutes into their meal before either of them said a word. “About last night,” Kahlan said, breaking the deafening silence between them, “Those things I said last night, that was the nineteen-year-old version of me who never got to say those things to you because you weren’t there. I didn’t get to tell you how much it hurt and how much I needed you. You weren’t just my girlfriend, you were my best friend and when you did what you did, I had no one to help me pick up the pieces of my life.” Cara started to say something but Kahlan’s raised palm stopped her. “I don’t ever want us to talk about it again. Finally, after all these years, I can let this go, I can let you go.” Cara gave her nod but didn’t say a word.

“Now tell me what you remembered.” Cara gave her a quizzical look. “Last night, when you came into my room you said you remembered something.”

“‘Remembered’? Oh, fuck, I forgot,” she said, wide-eyed and thoroughly confused.

Kahlan face-palmed herself. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Wait, it’ll come to me. I - I didn’t get any sleep.” She pinched the bridge of her nose for a long moment as if she were trying to squeeze the memory out. “Paloma,” she said, “Paloma got me out of the box.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. I was groggy from the shot they gave me but her eyes, they’re very distinctive.” She got up and paced around the apartment for few minutes. “Yeah, it was definitely her.”

“Sit,” Kahlan said, “you’re making me dizzy.” Cara rolled her eyes and sat down next to her. “I want you to take a few deep breaths and tell me what happened next.” She sat next to Cara and held her hand. “I’m not going anywhere, just relax and breathe.”

“They were speaking in Spanish. ‘Que nadie la vea,’ Paloma said to the others. I was on the floor, behind the front seat with some blankets covering me. We drove for what felt like a long time. She said something but I’m not sure what. My Spanish is good but I think she was speaking in Catalan, or maybe I was too fucked up to understand any language.”

“You said you drove for a long time,” Kahlan said, trying to build a timeline, “Did you drive back from Mexico City to Aydindril in the back of the car?”

Cara furrowed her brow; her head was a jumbled mess of what may have been memories or dreams. “I don’t think so, no.”

The gears in Kahlan’s head were turning full force. She was fairly certain Cara hadn’t been teleported from Mexico to Aydindril. Without a passport she could not have taken a commercial flight or any other means of transportation that required going through customs. Someone, possibly this Paloma person, had gone through a lot of trouble to get Cara out of Mexico alive.

“The only explanation is a private plane,” Kahlan said. “Would your girlfriend have access to one?”

Cara rolled her eyes at the girlfriend remark but decided not to go there. “Maybe,” Cara said, “She’s definitely not broke. She lives in a huge penthouse in Barcelona, throws fancy parties, hobnobs with society types. You get the picture.”

“So let’s assume you got back here on a private plane and somehow bypassed all government agencies. What is the first thing you remember after getting back to Aydindril?”

“I already told you, lockup.”

“Why would she go through the trouble of getting you out of Mexico just to drop you off at a random street corner? That makes no sense.” Kahlan thought for a long moment, then said, “The way I see it, she either helped someone frame you for a triple homicide or she risked her own neck to save your life. What does your gut tell you?”

Cara pursed her lips and shook her head. “My gut tells me the nunnery would have been a great lifestyle choice.” She got up and stared out the window for a few minutes, pondering the contents of her gut. “No, I don’t think Paloma set me up to take the fall for these murders, but I do think she’s not who I thought she was.”

“Then it’s time for me to find out who she really is,” Kahlan said, tossing Cara yet another legal pad and a pen. “Write down everything you know about her.”

Cara sighed. “Do you have elves in the attic manufacturing these things?”

“No, fairies,” Kahlan said from the bedroom as she got dressed. “I’ll be home late. Please don’t freak out. You can call me as often as you’d like.”

“Where are you going?” Cara asked, following Kahlan around the apartment like a lost puppy.

“You’re not the only one with interesting friends,” Kahlan said, grabbing the list Cara had written and closing the door behind her. Leaving Cara to pound her fists on the door.

“I fucking hate it when she does that,” Cara said plunking down on the sofa.

***

“Hey,” Kahlan said, smiling at the pretty blonde with an impressive corner office.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” she said, leaning in and kissing Kahlan on the lips. “It’s the first time I’ve seen you during the day. I was beginning to suspect you were a vampire –– especially after the multiple teeth marks you usually leave as a calling card.”

Kahlan blushed and chuckled a bit. “Yes, well, this is a professional visit.”

“That’s too bad. I’d love to have you for lunch.”

“Tempting offer,” Kahlan said, “but I have a client caught in a world of trouble. She’s a childhood friend who’s been dealt a bum hand, Sabrina.”

“Sit, please. What can I do to help?” Sabrina sat on the sofa next to her, running her fingertips just below hem of Kahlan’s dress.

“There’s a woman who I need intel on. This is what I know about her.” She handed Sabrina the list of Paloma-facts Cara had jotted down.

“Not a lot to go on. So she flew in on a private plane? Do you have a specific date? Information as to what airport she flew into?”

“She flew in somewhere between May 11th and May 17th. No clue as to which airport but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a major one. I do know she flew in from Mexico.” She paused for a moment. “And Sabrina, this all has to be off the record. If that’s not possible, then forget this conversation ever happened.”

Sabrina walked behind her desk and typed on her computer for a few minutes. “This is a list of every flight that came into Aydindril during that range of dates –– on and off the radar. Have dinner with me tonight. I’ll go over your list and fill you in over a bottle of champagne.”

“Eight o’clock?” Kahlan asked.

“Perfect,” she said, walking out from behind her desk and encircling Kahlan’s waist. “Clothing optional.”

Kahlan looked at her through her lashes and smiled. “I’ll see you tonight.”

***

Back at Kahlan’s place, Cara was practically crawling up the walls. She’d never been very good at sitting on her hands. It frustrated her and made her angry –– especially with Kahlan keeping her out of the loop regarding this contact of hers. When she heard the key turning the lock, she released a sigh of frustration.

“So, what did you find out? And what took you so long? And who’s this contact of yours?”

“Hello, nice to see you, too. My day? Busy but productive.” Cara shot her a murderous glare. “Here,” she said, handing Cara the list of airports. “Take a look and see if any of them ring a bell. I have to shower and change. Don’t wait up for me.”

“Kahlan, wait,” Cara said, taking hold of Kahlan’s forearm as she turned to walk toward the bathroom. “This is my fucking life, too. You can’t just shut me out like this.” She clenched her fist wanting nothing more than to punch a few holes in the wall. “I have to know what’s going on and who you’re talking to about my case.”

Kahlan sighed and sat down on the sofa while Cara paced in front of her. “I’m not shutting you out. Sabrina is NSA. I asked her to find out more information about Paloma.”

“What, so your girlfriend is in on this? No fucking way.

 

“Calm down.” Kahlan said, thinking that at any moment smoke was going to blow out of Cara’s ears –– and possibly her nostrils. “I didn’t tell her anything about you or your case. All I asked her to do was run some flight information, and to look into this Paloma person. That’s it –– and she’s not my girlfriend.” She waited for Cara to say something but all she did was stare at the wall. “Cara, I need you to listen to me. Mike has tons of incriminating evidence against you. I will use anything and anyone that can help me create reasonable doubt. Will there be casualties along the way? Probably, but I can’t worry about that right now. Your life is on the line.”

Cara turned and looked at her for a long moment. “What if I just leave? It’s not like I’ve got anything going here.”

Kahlan shook her head and crossed her arms. “And what, be branded a murderer? You’d be on the run for the rest of your life, which probably wouldn’t be more than a year or two. There’s a price on your head, Cara. I ––.” she shut her eyes for a second. “Baby, I don’t want you to die,” she said, and buried her face in Cara’s shoulder. “I lost you once and it almost killed me. Please, let me try to fix this. If I fail, I swear to you on my life that, one way or another, I’ll get you out of prison or I’ll be in there with you.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Did you like stream the entire first season of Orange Is the New Black?”

Kahlan tried to hold back her laughter but failed miserably. “Fine, real life isn’t like TV but I do look good in orange. Now let me get ready so that I can go do my job. Okay?”

Cara nodded. “Kahlan,” she called out at the last moment, “I’m way hotter than Piper.” Kahlan laughed as she walked out the door.

While spending the rest of her life in prison wasn’t exactly at the top of her bucket list, knowing that with everything that had happened between them, Kahlan still cared made it all worth it –– in a weird, dysfunctional sort of way. She’d spent over a decade thinking that the whole world hated her. That’s certainly what Rahl told her –– every day –– and she believed it, especially after her break-up with Kahlan, and Richard’s accident. Kahlan would never know the truth about their break-up and Cara was at peace with that. It was all ancient history and Kahlan had clearly moved on. Kahlan didn’t hate her; that was enough.

***

When Cara heard the key turn in the lock, it surprised her; she figured Kahlan would be home much later. It was a welcome surprise. “Hey,” she said, opening the door as soon as Kahlan unlocked it. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Her hostess was paler than usual and looking totally rattled.

Kahlan stared at her for a moment then released a puff of air. “Your Catalonian booty call isn’t just a journalist. She’s a leftist revolutionary fighting for social and economic justice across the globe.” She plunked down on the recliner with her lips parted and her head tilted to one side.

“Get out of town,” Cara said in total disbelief.

“We may have to. She’s one of those people who gets drones dropped on them by governments.” Kahlan took off her heels and put her feet on the coffee table. “Please explain to me how you didn’t know about this.”

Cara threw up her arms. “Kahlan, I had a casual sexual relationship with her. It’s not like I go around asking chicks if they’re the second coming of Ché Guevara.”

“Well, maybe you should start asking. You meeting her was no coincidence, Cara. Paloma targeted you because of your ties to Darken Rahl. According to NSA records, her organization has been keeping tabs on Rahl for over two years –– the exact amount of time you’d been fu––, seeing her.”

“Do you think she set me up to take the fall for Darken’s murder?”

Kahlan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but,” she said, “Paloma could be our ticket to reasonable doubt.”

Cara chuckled. “You want to pin this on Paloma?”

“It’s not like she’ll get convicted. There no evidence to support an arrest but we can’t rule out her involvement. She delivers you back to Aydindril and lo and behold, Darken turns up dead.”

“Then why do I feel like she rescued me from a box full of rats? That’s the last thing I remember, Paloma and a couple of guys who definitely don’t work for Rahl, prying the box open and gently placing me in the back of a car.”

“She’s involved in this mess, Cara. I don’t know how or to what extent but she’s definitely involved.” Kahlan walked into her bedroom and closed the door, leaving Cara baffled as to how she hadn’t realized that Paloma was playing her. As she sat there, however, the dots started connecting. Cara had been at the club for all of two minutes when Paloma had not so subtly bumped into her. She’d apologized and a few minutes later handed Cara a vodka tonic –– her drink of choice; they had danced for most of the evening. Why, if Paloma was a local, hadn’t anyone walked up to say hello? A woman that beautiful is never alone for very long. Then there were the looks they’d kept getting from various strategically positioned bouncers. All of those things should have set off alarms in her head but Cara had been too focused on getting laid to notice, and Paloma was sexy as hell. The only thing Cara had been thinking about were Paloma’s thighs slung over her shoulders as she screamed out her name.

“Fucking lesbians,” she mumbled. “Shit like this never happens to straight girls.”

After turning it over in her head for over an hour, Cara knocked on Kahlan’s door. “Come in,” she said from the other side of the door.

“Should I Skype her? Might as well get it straight from the horse’s mouth.” Kahlan glared at her and covered her face with a pillow. “I’m serious.”

Kahlan took the pillow off her face and sighed. “Do you think she’ll answer?”

“I have no clue. She has a Skype account that she uses exclusively for me.”

“Of course she does,” Kahlan said. Her exasperation with the details of Cara’s love life was growing by the minute. “By all means, call her. I have no idea what you’re going to say to her but it’s bound to be interesting. Here,” she said, handing Cara her laptop.

“Are you routing all your traffic through a VPN?” Cara asked.

“Of course I am. What do you take me for, the village idiot?”

“It was just a question, Kahlan.” Kahlan could see the hurt in Cara’s eyes.

“I know, I’m just… I’m sorry.”

It took Cara a few minutes to steel her nerves. “Did you set me up for murder?” Cara asked as an opening line.

“Of course not,” Paloma replied in perfect English –– albeit with a bit of an accent. “One of my associates told me you were in danger. I flew to Mexico as soon as I heard about it.”

“Paloma, I need you to tell me what happened. And who’s this associate of yours? What does he know about me?”

“You met him in Mexico City, Cara. He is a kind and talented man. That is all I can tell you. As far as what happened, you were going in and out of consciousness. Your boss’s people shot you up with heroin and put you in a box full of rats, that is what happened.”

“After that, Paloma. What happened after that?”

“We flew you back to Aydindril. I took you to a doctor; he stayed with you until you detoxed. He determined it wasn’t a lethal dosage; they wanted you impaired but not dead. I paid for your hotel room and left you $10,000 in cash. I wanted to stay with you, my love, but it was not possible.”

“Paloma, who the hell are you?”

“Cara, listen to me, someone at the NSA is asking questions about you. My contact there got word to me a few hours ago. An agent opened an inquiry about me and your name came up. I am on your side, and I will do what I can to help you.”

“So you know nothing about the triple homicide at the Rahl compound?”

“Only what I read in the papers, my love. If I find out anything at all, I will do what I can to get word to you. My situation in Spain has changed, Cara. I will be traveling east in a few days. There will always be a place for you wherever I am. Say the word, I will make the arrangements. There is no justice to be had in your country.” With that, she logged off Skype.

“Do you believe her?” Kahlan asked.

Cara rubbed her forehead and sat on the edge of Kahlan’s bed. “I guess,” Cara said. “I’ll be honest with you, you’re the only person in this world I trust. Do I think Paloma cares about me? Yeah, probably. But she certainly sold me a bill of goods.”

“And she risked her life to save yours.” Kahlan pointed out. “Or so she claims.”

“Maybe she did, or maybe she’s the one who shot me up with dope. Who the fuck knows at this point?” She held her head in her hands for a long moment, mentally going over all of the ways in which her life had gone wrong. And for as much as she was willing to take responsibility for all of it, from the moment she walked into the Rahl compound, her life was no longer her own.

Kahlan put her arm around her shoulders, and said, “I’m still here, Cara. We’re going to see this through together.” She traced Cara’s features with her fingertips, from her temple to her jawline. “Do you realize you could have died in Mexico and I would never have known about it?” She pulled Cara into her arms and held her there for several minutes.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Cara said, resting her chin on Kahlan’s shoulder with her eyes closed.

She started to get up but Kahlan stopped her. “Stay,” she said, “I need to hold you tonight.” Without saying a word, Cara got under the covers and closed her eyes as Kahlan pressed the front of her body to Cara’s back. All thoughts of Sabrina and Paloma faded to nothing as they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we have some interesting revelations and an epic rant courtesy of Denna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally understand if you lovely ladies have given up on this story. Due to a combination of things, I just haven't had much free time –– or inspiration for that matter. Please don't think I'm going to leave you hanging. I will see it through to the end.

Kahlan woke up to find Cara’s face buried in her cleavage. “Some things never change,” she mumbled with a chuckle before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. The sound of the rain against the windowpane coupled with the smell of Cara’s hair made it impossible to get out of bed. Cara felt warm and inviting tangled up in the sheets like that –– with tiny patches of golden skin peeking through the mess of fabric. It occurred to her that in a different world she would have slid down Cara’s body and kissed every one of those patches until Cara’s eyes opened and she made those adorable little noises that always made Kahlan smile. They would have stayed in bed making love all day –– forgetting all about that chemistry final. But that’s when they were sixteen, when Cara hadn’t broken every promise she’d made to her, when she hadn’t shattered Kahlan’s heart into a thousand pieces that to this day she couldn’t put back together. “Why, Cara?” she asked, knowing that no answer to that question could ever fix it. 

Just then, a beep from Kahlan’s phone startled them both into lucidity. While Cara rubbed the sleep from her eyes, Kahlan picked up her phone from the nightstand, and read the email. She sat up and looked down at Cara who was staring up at her with those beautiful eyes. “What is it?” Cara asked in a sleepy voice that made her sound so much like the child version of herself.

Kahlan furrowed her brow, taking in every detail of Cara’s face for what seemed like a long time to Cara. “An email from the clerk. A trial date’s been set.”

Cara swallowed hard, and asked, “When?”

“Six and half weeks,” she said, suddenly bursting into a flurry of activity. She opened the closet and tossed various items of clothing on the bed –– some of them landing on Cara’s head. “I have to go shower.”

“Kahlan, stop, please.” She pulled Kahlan into her arms and held her there. “You have to calm down, okay? I can’t have my lawyer running around like a crazy person.” Kahlan allowed herself to be held, completely relaxing into Cara’s arms. “Baby, I have to go,” she said after a few minutes. “I need to file a continuance. The clerk sent me the heads-up so that I’d have a chance to file it before Mike gets word.”

Cara nodded, but before Kahlan could take a full stride, Cara took hold of her elbow and pulled Kahlan back into her arms for a few more seconds. “Go,” she said, kissing Kahlan’s temple. While Kahlan got ready, Cara filled a thermos with coffee and packed breakfast for her. 

As she drove to the courthouse, Kahlan thought of her mother for some reason. In her mind, none of this would have happened if her mother hadn’t died. Cara’s family would still be alive, she and Dennee would be as close as they once were, and she and Cara would have gotten married right out of high school. That was their plan –– to get married right away then take a year off before college to see the world together. Kahlan could not recall the last time she needed her mother as much as she did at that moment. She realized how difficult it had become to distinguish memories of her mother from memories of Cara’s mother. And then there was Cara’s dad, a gentle and humble soul who’d never once hesitated to share what little he had –– he was a thousand times the man her own father was. Regardless of what happened between them, she owed it to the Masons to protect their little girl. “They didn’t deserve to die, Cara, and you don’t deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison.”

With gusts of wind nearly tearing the umbrella out of her hand, she rushed into the courthouse and filed the continuance. The judge looked down at the document then up at Kahlan. “Early bird gets the worm, Miss Amnell. I’ll give you another three weeks,” he said as he scribbled his signature. “Young people these days can’t seem to ever be on time. You’re setting an excellent example for your colleagues.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” She gave him her most radiant smile, and as she walked out of his chambers, she released a sigh of relief. No more than five seconds later, Mike Cypher walked past her holding a venti cappuccino from a Starbucks.

“Serves him right for drinking corporate coffee,” she said to herself with a smirk on her face. Only to frown at the realization that that was probably what Cara’s revolutionary girlfriend would have said. 

Knowing that Cara would be losing her mind with worry, she called her from the car. “Three weeks,” Kahlan said, “the judge gave me another three weeks. We’ll talk about it when I get home.” With that, she ended the call.

***

“What now?” Cara said to herself as she watched raindrops run down the windowpane. For as long as she’d lived in Aydindril never had there been so many consecutive days of rain. If she believed in such things, she would have called it an omen – or maybe an attempt by the Creator to wash away her sins. But since she didn’t believe in the Creator, she chalked it up to global warming.

What happened next, neither of them would have imagined. Cara left her place by the window and wandered into Kahlan’s room but not on purpose, not really. It was as if her legs carried her there out of their own volition. She picked up Kahlan’s pillow and pressed it to her nose, taking in Kahlan’s scent for several seconds, then she walked to the dresser –– the one in which Kahlan kept her gun –– and she opened the drawer. She picked up the gun and held it expertly, cocking and aiming it like someone who’d handled guns many times before –– only she hadn’t. Cara had a lifelong distaste for guns –– which stands to reason since she’d witnessed her entire family being riddled by bullets. She turned around with the intention of putting it back in the drawer, only she didn’t. Instead, she held it to her temple.

It was at that very moment that Kahlan walked in the door and saw her standing there, holding a gun to her own head. “Cara, no,” she said, rushing to Cara’s side. “Don’t you do that to me.”

“Do what?” she asked, with her arm hanging at her side –– the gun still in her hand. 

Kahlan snatched the gun away from her. “I know things look bad, baby, but this isn’t the answer,” she said, holding up the gun.

“Whoa,” Cara said, backing away from her, “put that thing away.”

Kahlan blinked and parted her lips. “Cara, you were holding it to your head when I walked in.”

“Holding what to my head?” she asked with her brow tightly kneaded.

“The gun, Cara, you were holding the gun to your head.”

Cara squeezed her eyes shut. “Wait…I – I was over there, by the window. How did I…” 

Kahlan put the gun back in the dresser and took hold of Cara’s elbow, guiding her to the edge of the bed. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

Cara shrugged. “I was looking out at the rain, thinking…deep thoughts. Then you walked in but I wasn’t there anymore, I was here.”

“You blacked out? Cara, did you black out?”

Cara thought for a long moment. “I guess,” she said. “Maybe I’m losing my mind.” She hadn’t mentioned to Kahlan that on more than one occasion she’d felt as if chunks time had gone missing throughout the day. Knowing that Kahlan would lecture her if she brought it up now, she decided to wait for a more opportune moment –– like never. 

“No, you’re not. I’m calling Zedd, lie down,” Kahlan said.

“Why? I’m not tired.”

“Because it’ll make me feel better.” Cara rolled her eyes but she complied.

***

“Programming,” Zedd declared. “She’s exhibiting all of the signs. I should have seen it earlier. Cara is acting out some sort of programing that’s been embedded into her psyche.” 

Kahlan covered her face with her hands for a moment. “Are you telling me that if I hadn’t walked in when I did, Cara would have killed herself?”

Zedd rested his hand on her shoulder and said, “Maybe, but I can’t be sure. She’s been here for weeks. The programming had to have been in place long before she got here.”

“Come sit with me, child,” he called out to Cara who, at Kahlan’s insistence, was still lying on the bed.

“Thank you,” Cara said, scowling at Kahlan.

“Don’t give me that look; I’m just worried about you.”

“Kidding,” Cara said, giving her a shove. Kahlan chuckled and shook her head.

“Can we get to work now?” Zedd asked looking between them. In so many ways, they were still the two teenage girls he tutored in calculus. He could not help but feel that they deserved better, much better than what life had given them. “I want us to chat for a bit.”

“Okay, but I’m not suicidal. And if I ever were, I wouldn’t use a gun. I’d jump out a window.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Kahlan asked, glaring at her with her hands on her hips. Cara gave her a sheepish shrug in response.

“Rahl’s girls are notorious for being deadly. Did you ever receive any sort of weapons training?” Zedd asked.

“No,” Cara said, “my thing was martial arts –– Shaolin conditioning. My training began a couple of days after I moved in. I can kill someone with a flick of my wrist –– not that I’ve actually done it, but I can.”

Kahlan grinned. “Wait, so you’re a ninja?” Cara shrugged and nodded. “That’s…hot,” Kahlan said, earning herself a smug smirk from Cara.

“Get over yourself,” Kahlan said, giving her a shove.

Zedd looked between them and shook his head. “May I remind you two that a few minutes ago Cara was holding a gun to her own head?”

“Cara, here is what we are going to do; please listen carefully to my instructions,” he said. Cara looked over at Kahlan who gave her a reassuring nod. “Walk back to the window and stand on the same spot you stood earlier, and fix your gaze on the same spot you did earlier as well.” Cara nodded and did as she was told. “Now I want you to look up –– without moving your head –– then look to your right and immediately back up again. Good, very good. I’m going to move along more quickly now. I need you to focus on my voice to the exclusion of everything else, and do not move your head, just look straight ahead. Now take three deep breaths. Very good, now look to the left, up, back to the left, up, hard right, front, hard right, up, hard right, up, left, and center.”

The moment he stopped talking, Cara’s arms went limp at her sides and her eyes completely glazed over. Kahlan’s heart was pounding against her ribcage, realizing that Zedd had somehow bypassed Cara’s conscious mind and gone to a much deeper place. “Cara, I’m going to count backwards from ten to zero and you are going to talk me through what compelled you to pick up that gun. Did someone talk to you like I’m talking to you now? Did he or she give you any instructions?”

“Yes,” Cara said, without moving a muscle. “Follow the recipe –– that’s what I have to do. Enter through the servant’s quarters. Make a left, walk fifty paces, remove the painting and open the safe, take out the gun, shoot the others and then shoot myself.” Kahlan shut her eyes for a moment. It was time to consider that maybe Cara was the shooter, only Zedd wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

“Cara, did you follow the recipe?” he asked; Cara didn’t answer. “Cara, look hard left and answer my question,” he said in a stern tone.

“No,” Cara said.

“What ingredient did you miss the first time?”

“I put it back,” she said. “I went downstairs with it but I turned around and I put it back in the safe. Then I sat down and waited for the police.”

“What happened to them, Cara?”

It took her almost a full minute to reply. “When I came back downstairs the guards were dead,” she said. Tears were running down her face and she was shaking like a leaf. “I didn’t want them to die,” she said.

“But where was Darken?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Cara said. “Maybe he was dead, too.”

“You did good, Cara. Now, I’m going to count from one to ten, and when I’m done you’re going to take three deep breaths, and go lie down in the bedroom and rest.” Kahlan followed her into the bedroom and stayed there until Cara fell asleep. She kissed the corner of Cara’s lips, and took the gun out of the drawer and locked it in her safe.

Zedd, who made himself a sandwich while he waited for Kahlan, asked, “Why is she so vague about Darken’s death?”

“I have no idea,” Kahlan said, plunking down next to him. “What was that thing you did to her?”

“EMDR, it’s a method of using eye movements to reprocess information. The CIA’s been using it to program agents for decades. It took years to reverse engineer it but a couple of guys I worked with at Harvard did it.”

Kahlan threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Zedd. I don’t know how I’d get through this without you. If this programming is so powerful, why didn’t it work on Cara?”

Zedd thought about it for a few seconds. “A couple of reasons come to mind. It could be that it was too big a leap. Cara was always a good girl, Kahlan. Turning someone like her into a coldblooded killer isn’t easy. Her creative tendencies also decrease the odds of the programming taking. A right brain thinker like Cara would reframe it into a series of images that would severely limit the efficacy of verbal programming.”

Kahlan looked into the bedroom with a sad smile on her face. “She was the sweetest girl, wasn’t she?” Zedd tipped his head and nodded. “She didn’t deserve any of this, Zedd.”

“Neither did you, Kahlan, neither did you.”

“Is she okay, now? Regarding the programming, I mean.” Kahlan waited for an answer but it never came.

“I have to get going but we’ll talk soon.” He kissed her on the forehead and left

Kahlan sat at her desk for hours looking for any legal precedents that would allow her to enter Zedd’s treatment into evidence but there wasn’t one. Getting a judge to admit it, she knew, wasn’t going to happen. She, therefore, decided her time was better spent assembling a cast of characters. Everyone was fair game at this point, including Paloma, Denna, and even Mike Cypher. She looked in on Cara throughout the entire afternoon, even chancing a couple of kisses, but Cara was sound asleep.

Just as she was about to take a break, her cell phone rang, giving her a start and rousing Cara from a sound sleep. “Meet at the Museum of Modern Art in an hour,” said the voice on the other side of the phone.

“Denna?” Kahlan asked.

Kahlan heard an exasperated sigh on the other end of the phone. “Who the fuck else would it be?” she said, and hung up the phone.

“What’s going on? Cara asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Where’s Zedd?”

“He left,” Kahlan said, as she rushed around the apartment gathering her things. “And I have to go, too. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Booty call from your narc girlfriend?” Cara asked, plunking down on the recliner.

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “That’s none of your business.” She started to leave but then turned around and kissed Cara on the nose. “You’re cute when you’re sleepy and jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” she called out as Kahlan disappeared into the elevator. “I just fucking hate that you get laid on a regular basis and I don’t,” she mumbled to the closed door. “I’m going back to bed.”

***

When she arrived at the museum, she walked straight to the Picasso section. Cara always loved Picasso best. Kahlan knew that’s where Denna would be.

“You’re late,” Denna said.

Kahlan tipped her head and raised her brow. “Parking.”

“Yeah, whatever. Here,” she said, and handed Kahlan a small padded manila envelope.

“Will it help Cara’s case?”

Denna let loose a derisive chuckle. “No, but it’ll do wonders for your self-esteem.”

“I don’t have time for games, Denna.”

“It’s a surveillance video from the Rahl mansion,” she said, staring off at a Degas painting.

“From the night of the murders?” Kahlan took two long strides toward her.

“No,” Denna said, “from the day of Cara’s 18th birthday. I’m sure you remember it well. Someone slipped it under my door today.”

Kahlan did remember that day; it was one of the worst days of her life. “Why am I here, Denna?”

“Motive,” Denna said. “That video wasn’t sent to me to help Cara, that video’s a threat.”

It took Kahlan a second but she got it. “More copies,” she said. Denna tipped her head and gestured with her hands. “Thank you,” Kahlan said, squeezing Denna’s shoulder.

“Let’s get something straight here: I fucking hate you, I hate your shiny fucking shampoo commercial hair, I hate your radiant fucking smile, I hate your perfect non-surgically-altered tits. I hate everything about you. And while we’re at it, I hate Cara, too. I hate her tortured fucking artist routine, and I hate her exhausting noble streak, I hate that she’s good at every fucking thing she does, I hate every goddamn thing about her. That I don’t want her to fry doesn’t mean I give two shits about her. Out of your entire merry band of sorry fucks, the only one I would maybe piss on if he were on fire is Richard. The rest of you can all go to hell.”

Kahlan crossed her arms and listened to her tirade with a placid smile on her face. “Are you done?” she asked. Denna glared in response.”I’ll take that as a yes.” Kahlan turned to leave, but then looked back at her over her shoulder, and said “I still love her, too.” 

When Kahlan got home, Cara was already asleep. She closed her bedroom door and opened the envelope, handling the DVD as if it were a deadly explosive. She had to watch it but she sure didn’t want to. Cara’s eighteenth birthday had replayed in her head for years and even now, just the thought of that day caused tears to streak her cheeks. She took a deep breath, and inserted the DVD into her laptop’s drive but she could not bring herself to press play. Instead, she gingerly walked into Cara’s room. Cara awoke to find her sitting cross-legged at the foot of her bed. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Kahlan took a long time to answer. “I think everyone has that one really bad day that stays with them for the rest of their lives. I’ve actually had two of them. The first was the day my mother died, the second one, I’ve never talked to anyone about. It was a really bad day.” 

“Kahlan, what happened?” Cara asked. “Whatever it is, just say it. This cryptic shit you do drives me crazy.”

“Nothing,” Kahlan said, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Cara’s ear, “it’s nothing. I have some old demons to face, that’s all, but I need to do it alone.” With that, she walked out of Cara’s room and walked into the master bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“Yeah, sure,” Cara said, talking to Kahlan’s closed door. “Because, you know, it’s not at all stressful that I don’t know what the fuck you’re taliking about.” Cara felt a churning in the pit of her stomach. This was like being the protagonist in some suspense thriller of the 1940’s. Turning it over in her head, she decided that if Kahlan were a redhead she could have rivaled Rita Hayworth for the title role in Gilda. All of this was her way of distracting herself from whatever was going on in Kahlan’s room. She’d been in there for over an hour before Cara finally gave up and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, only she left the door to her room slightly open. This little mystery Kahlan had going caused her to have a complete disregard for discretion. In fact, it was all she could do to keep herself from pressing her ear to Kahlan’s door. On the off chance that Kahlan decided to leave her room at some point, Cara grabbed a stack of her old comic books and pretended she was reading.

When she finally heard Kahlan’s door open, she nearly fell off the bed. Luckily, she managed to recover as Kahlan stood in the doorway with a hand on either side of the doorframe. “Hey,” Cara said, doing her best to sound casual. “Everything good?”

Kahlan looked back at her with an inscrutable expression for almost five minutes. “Yes,” she finally said, causing Cara to release a breath she’d been holding for what felt like hours. “I have to go.” With that, she walked out the door. No explanation, no return ETA; she just walked out.

Cara sat dumbfounded, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there and never look back, but she’d given Kahlan her word. Whatever was going on with Kahlan was big, Cara was sure of it. Never in her life, not even when she got dragged into the Rahl compound as a scared nine-year-old had she been so nervous. Little did she know that Kahlan hadn’t gone anywhere. She was sitting downstairs in the lobby having a drink and watching her neighbors come and go. 

The contents of that DVD blew her away; she had no clue what to do with this new information. She was furious and elated and panic-stricken all at once. The only thing she knew with any degree of certainty was that if she were to get up from the chair she was sitting in, her knees would buckle. A cute blonde who lived on the 11th floor with whom she’d had an ongoing flirtation for a while bought her a couple of drinks and invited her up to her apartment. Kahlan decided that getting laid was exactly what the doctor ordered but then it occurred to her that she’d be cheating on Sabrina, or maybe on Cara, or probably on both, but really on neither of them. All she allowed herself was a hot make-out session on the elevator ride that left her feeling guilty and horny as hell. At the very least, her neighbor had a happy ending –– that was something.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BIG REVELATIONS!

“Kahlan, are you going to talk to me?” Cara asked, rising to her feet the moment Kahlan walked in the door.

Kahlan blinked and dropped her purse on the floor. “No,” she said, “I just drank three gigantic vodka tonics; I’m drunk, and I’m also very horny. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go in the shower and take care of half my problem.” That certainly wasn’t the response Cara expected. She was tempted to ask Kahlan if she could at least watch but she decided the odds were pretty high that Kahlan would crack a vase on her head, or maybe shoot her.

 

Cara lay awake for most of the night trying to figure out what exactly she’d done that made Kahlan so mad. It didn’t help that every time she closed her eyes she was presented with a vivid mental image of Kahlan getting herself off in the shower. Given the roller coaster of emotions she’d been on since moving in with Kahlan, Cara was starting to feel that prison –– and the certain death that came with it –– would be a lot less stressful than her current living arrangements.

At around six in the morning Kahlan walked into Cara’s room –– without knocking –– and said, “Can you please explain this to me?” She was standing in the middle of the room –– in her underwear –– holding a DVD in one hand, with her other hand on her hip.

Cara sat up in bed, took a long look at Kahlan, then directed her attention to the DVD. “Well, it’s a form of digital storage that’s been around since the ’90s.”

Kahlan glared at her. “Play it,” she said, tossing it at Cara with more force than necessary.

Cara had a mind to tell her to go straight to hell but she managed to suppress the impulse. “You’re being rude as fuck,” she said as she popped it into the little TV/DVD combo device that was also straight out of the ’90s. It only took Cara a half a frame to realize what they were watching.

She reached for the remote but Kahlan wasn’t having it. “Don’t,” she said, pointing her index finger at Cara. She shook her head; Kahlan was as stubborn as ever. She stood there glaring at Cara, while Cara’s eyes were fixed on the tiny screen.

_There stood Darken Rahl, along with a bunch of Cara’s so-called sisters, on the day of Cara’s eighteenth birthday. “Cara has no interest in seeing you, Ms. Amnell. As you can see, her tastes have changed. Ask her yourself, if you don’t believe me.” He looked toward the top of the stairs. Kahlan followed his gaze only to find Cara walking down with her arm around Dahlia’s waist._

_“My dad’s right, Kahlan, I’m with Dahlia now. You need to move on with your life, I have.”_

_Kahlan’s lips parted but it took her a moment to form words. “I don’t believe you, Cara; I know you don’t mean it. If he’s making you say these things…” She trailed off with tears already running down her cheeks. “Baby, he can’t hurt us anymore. You’re an adult now, he can’t keep you here.”_

_“Oh, I mean it. I’ve been fucking Dahlia since I left your crummy apartment. What? We haven’t seen each other in two years, Kahlan. How fucked in the head are you to think that I’d still give a shit about you?” She took hold of a handful of Kahlan’s hair and dragged her to the door. “Stay the fuck away from me and my family. We Rahls don’t mix with you pathetic Amnells,” she said, shoving Kahlan out and slamming the door shut._

_“Well done,” Darken said._

_Cara pursed her lips and nodded her head, clenching her fists at her sides. She then took a step toward him so that they were standing nose to nose. “From this day on, I suggest you sleep with one eye open because one of these days, when you least expect it, I’m going to kill you, ‘Daddy’. You made me lose the only good and pure thing I had left in my life. But mark my words, it doesn’t end here. I swear, on my parents’ graves, it doesn’t end here.”_

_“Oh, Cara,” Darken said, “you’ve always had a flair for the dramatic. I gave you a choice: you leave, she dies; you stay, your precious Kahlan gets to live another day.” Not once in all the years since she’d been adopted by Darken had she given him the pleasure of seeing her cry. But on that day, Cara crumbled to the ground and cried like a baby._

“Turn it off,” Kahlan said, wiping away tears of her own. “How could you keep this from me? We’ve been living under the same roof, Cara.”

“What would have been the point, Kahlan? It doesn’t change anything. It was totally fucked up, but I did it because I loved you.”

“I had the right to know. Do you have any idea what I went through, what I still go through? I wanted to die. Do you understand that? I cried every day, I prayed to the Creator to make it all stop. I fucking married Richard in the hopes of making it stop. I had sex with him, Cara, multiple times. Once, I almost puked on him because I had to down a half a bottle of vodka before I could get into bed with him. It took me years to pick up the pieces of my life enough to actually function like a normal person.”

Cara shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut to hold back tears. “But you’re not dead, Kahlan. All the others, my parents, your mom, my sister, I couldn’t save them but I saved you. I don’t care if you hate me or if you think I’m a coward. I’d rip out my own heart to keep you safe.”

“But why, why didn’t you tell me the truth when we saw each other five years ago in Richard’s hospital room? Do you have any idea what a difference that would have made in my life, in our lives?” She sat on the bed next to Cara resting her hands in her lap, waiting for an answer.

“I didn’t want you to die. Darken would have killed you. It didn’t matter that I was an adult. He owned me, Kahlan. And he would have killed you just to spite me.” Cara closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall with her knees hugged to her chest. “He’s dead now, and you’re in a relationship with someone you care about. The last thing you need is a hot mess like me in your life.”

Kahlan released a derisive chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve been in many relationships, Cara. As a matter of fact, last night I was in a short-lived relationship with a hot little blonde in the elevator. It lasted just long enough to shove my hand down her jeans and make her scream.”

Cara raised her eyebrows and ran her hand through her own hair. “Yeah, that falls into the TMI category.”

“I’m that girl, Cara. You know, the one who’s too jaded to commit but keeps telling herself that when the right girl comes along she’ll stop waking up with strangers in her bed.”  

“I’ve loved you since I was five, Kahlan. If I could change any of it I would, but I can’t. If it’s any consolation, I’m just as fucked up as you are and maybe a little worse than you.” Cara stretched out her legs so that Kahlan could rest her head on her lap.

“So do you love this NSA chick?” Cara asked, twirling a lock of Kahlan’s hair between her fingers.

“Love her? I don’t think so. The sex is good and she’s very attentive. Mostly, I call her when I’m feeling vulnerable –– or horny. Maybe that’s what love is: someone who makes you feel safe when you’re feeling vulnerable, and gets you off when you’re horny.” She lifted her head off Cara’s lap and kissed her on the lips. “You have the softest lips in the world,” she said, and rested her head on Cara’s lap again.

“Yeah, I do,” Cara said, eliciting a giggle from Kahlan even though she was still crying. “What? I do.”

“I’ll give you that, but I have epic boobs,” Kahlan said, looking up at her.

“So true,” Cara said, nodding her head. “However you slice it though, we’re both completely fucked up.”

“You’re right. I think all we can do is go back to sleep and worry about it later. Oh, but I do have a question for you. Why are you so vague about the details of Darken’s death?”

“Fuck if I know. It’s all kind jumbled in my head,” Cara answered.

“I knew you were going to say that. How about Paloma? Nice boobs?” Kahlan asked.

“Pretty epic but not as epic as yours.”

“Good,” Kahlan said. “So how many more copies of that DVD do you think are floating around? It gives you motive –– and it makes a case for premeditation.” Cara shrugged. With that, they curled up in each other’s arms and fell asleep.

***

The sound of shattering glass roused Cara from a sound sleep. “What happened?” she asked Kahlan, who was fully dressed with her cell phone glued to her ear.

“Don’t move, I’ll be there in an hour,” she said to the person on the other end. In the meantime, Cara busied herself picking up shards of glass. “Sorry,” Kahlan said when she got off the phone, “slippery fingers.” She sat down on the sofa with a blank expression on her face. “Talk to me, Kahlan.”

Kahlan turned to face her but it took her a moment to actually speak. “Mike subpoenaed Denna and Richard.” Cara rested her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. “Does Denna have any information that could hurt your case? Something must have motivated him to put her on the stand.”

“Denna and I lived under the same roof for years. Sure, she knows things about me but as far as these murders, I don’t know anything so I can’t even begin to imagine what she could know.” She leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment. “But Kahlan, there are other reasons, unrelated to this case, why Denna can’t testify. If I need to change my plea to avoid it, I will.”

“Cara, why don’t you trust me? I won’t judge you and I won’t divulge your secrets, I swear on my life I won’t. Please, just talk to me.” She covered Cara’s hand with hers and waited but it was useless; Cara completely tuned her out and took to staring at the wall.

Kahlan released a frustrated sigh and grabbed her purse. “I’ll do my best to get the subpoenas revoked, but Cara, I can’t build a defense with an uncooperative client.” With that, she walked out the door.

What Kahlan didn’t tell Cara was that it was Denna who called her. She’d gotten served at six in the morning at the Stein mansion. That’s where Kahlan was headed, not the courthouse. After twenty minutes of waiting alone in the sitting room, Shota made her entrance, looking every bit the part of the grand dame of Aydindril; she’d earned it, Kahlan supposed. “Shota,” Kahlan said, greeting her with a polite smile once she and Denna entered the room. “It’s been a long time.”  

Shota studied Kahlan’s features for a long moment before speaking. “You’re the image of your mother,” she said, while Denna stood by, taking in the exchange. “She and I were friends, you know –– and sometimes not. This town went to hell without her, and for a spell I went to hell, too.” She drifted off for a moment, as if lost in her own thoughts. “I loved her like a sister,” she added, looking at Kahlan with those piercing eyes.

“I miss her every day,” Kahlan said, her voice breaking ever so slightly.

“Well,” she said, “I’ll leave you two to sort out your business. She ran her fingers through Denna’s and kissed her on the lips, then disappeared into one of the many hallways that comprised the cavernous mansion. What struck Kahlan most was that Denna’s gaze had been fixed on Shota the entire time, and she was never more than a few inches away from her. Nothing or no one in the room mattered to Denna, only Shota. They may have had a twenty-year age difference and their relationship perhaps started as a business arrangement, but in seeing them together, Kahlan had no doubt that Denna loved Shota –– passionately so.

Denna promptly shut the door after Shota walked out. “I can’t testify at this trial.”

“Denna, what do you know about this case that could hurt Cara?” It’s the same question she’d asked Cara and she was met with the same stone-faced silence. “Denna, please, talk to me.”

“I don’t know anything about this case that could help or hurt her, but if I get put on the stand, there are things that’ll come out that’ll destroy her. And you’re wrong; I’m not in love with her. I think once upon a time I wanted to be her, but I see life more clearly these days.” She poured them both a glass of D’Haran whiskey –– even though it was only seven-thirty in the morning. “That first day, when she was brought into the Rahl compound, I thought she was a fucking idiot. All she had to do to spare herself the epic ass-kicking was call him daddy, like we all did, but Cara wouldn’t do it. She was this badass little kid who was willing to die on principle. The rest of us, we were too scared to ever stand up to him, but not Cara. She was sixty-five pounds soaking wet yet she stared him down like he was nothing.”

Kahlan had been a lawyer long enough to know that there were times when she had to allow a witness to ramble on for as long as it took to get to the truth. Denna was slowly unburdening herself and if she waited long enough, the secret she and Cara were keeping would pour out of her. “This is fucked up, but I’ll admit it, I was almost five years older than her and could barely read and write. Cara helped me out; she helped all of us out in different ways. And yeah, she pissed me off plenty of times and I kicked her ass even more times, but I’ll tell you, she was worth more than all the girls who came and went through that house of fucking horrors.” She paused for a long moment, gazing into Kahlan’s eyes. “Darken was a bastard of magnificent proportions but he wasn’t a pedophile. He liked fucking young girls, sure, but not prepubescent ones.”

Something about the way Denna’s eyes were fixed on hers made Kahlan want to run the hell out of there. Whatever Denna was about to say, Kahlan was certain she didn’t want to hear it. “That all changed,” Denna said. “With Cara,” she added after a long pause. Kahlan heard the words but it took her a moment to process them, and once she did, it was all she could do to keep breathing. “It wasn’t about sex,” Denna said. “It was about breaking her. Darken tried everything to get her to bend to his will but Cara was unyielding. He started raping her when she was ten.” Kahlan let the tears run down her cheeks but she didn’t make a sound; she just kept listening. “I kept her secret for years,” Denna said, and clammed up.

Without bothering to wipe away the tears and the runny mascara, Kahlan finally spoke. “What are you not telling me, Denna?”

Denna threw back another shot of whiskey and said, “There’s a kid, a boy. He’d be about eighteen by now.” Kahlan blinked and her lips parted. If the boy was eighteen, Cara would have given birth to him when she was eleven years old. “Darken was away on business when Cara went into labor –– a month before her due date. He never even knew she was pregnant. She was such a tiny thing; even members of the staff didn’t realize she was pregnant. Me and Berdine delivered the kid. It was fucking terrifying. Then a miracle happened. Two days after Cara gives birth and we’re scrambling to figure out what to do, Shota prances into the Rahl compound and tells me to get my stuff. Unbeknownst to me, she’d been negotiating a deal with him to buy my freedom –– I was seventeen and hot as hell. What Shota didn’t know was that I had a newborn baby in my backpack. That kid must have known he was in deep shit; he didn’t make a sound the entire time. When I told Shota what happened, she stepped up. She found the kid parents and she set the kid up for life. Cara and I saw each other a few times after that, but until today, Shota is the only person I ever told.”

This was far beyond anything Kahlan had imagined regarding Cara’s life at the Rahl compound. Denna’s retelling of the events left her in a kind of stupor. She sat there, for almost an hour, without saying a word. Denna thought maybe it had all been too much for her. Just as she was about to go get Shota, Kahlan snapped out of it. “I can’t ask you to perjure yourself, and I doubt that I’ll be able to get the judge to throw out the subpoena on relevance.” Kahlan picked up her purse and placed her hand on Denna’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, “had I known about any of this years ago, I would have killed Darken myself.”

“For what it’s worth, Cara doesn’t give a shit about what anyone other than you thinks of her.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with the aftermath of Denna's big revelation. Kahlan is forced to metaphorically talk Cara off the ledge by implementing her secret weapon: tears!

As she drove home, Kahlan started connecting the dots. Cara must have gotten pregnant when she was dragged out of Kahlan’s boarding school and taken back to Rahl’s. They didn’t speak for months after that, but Cara did manage to send her a couple of emails. In hindsight, the ways in which Cara had changed –– her mood, the tone of her emails –– were a dead giveaway that something bad had happened to Cara. Kahlan was still just a kid; she never fathomed the extent of what Cara had endured. A long while after that, Kahlan managed to get a cell phone to her so they spoke almost every day, and yes, Kahlan knew Cara was struggling, but she had spared her the horrific details. It was via that cell phone that they plotted yet another escape. Kahlan graduated from high school a year early and managed to become an emancipated minor. In a flawlessly executed plan, Kahlan moved into the apartment in Aydindril and with Chase’s help, got Cara out of Rahl’s. It was a year of pure bliss for the both of them but Rahl sent out a small army after her and eventually they found her.

Kahlan sat in the parking lot for several minutes, gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. With a deep intake of air, she steeled herself and mentally prepared to talk to Cara, who, as expected, was pacing around the apartment like a crazy person.

“Kahlan,” she said, throwing her arms around her. Kahlan squeezed her eyes shut and didn’t say a word. “Are you okay?” Cara asked once she’d pulled away from her. “You look like you’ve been crying. Did something happen? Were you able to get the judge to rescind the subpoena?”

Kahlan ran her fingers through Cara’s hair and rested her hand on Cara’s cheek. “No, I wasn’t,” she said, “but I’ll object to any line of questioning that goes beyond the scope of this case.”

“I’m sorry, Kahlan, but I’m out of here.” With a few long strides, she was in her bedroom, throwing her things into her duffel bag. Kahlan’s hands went to either side of her head. She didn’t have the energy for this –– not after that conversation with Denna. It took her a minute but she finally went after her.

“No,” Kahlan said, “you’re not going anywhere.”

“Paloma got me into the country, I’m sure she can get me out. If I leave, there won’t be a trial.”

“Cara, you’re not leaving. And you’re not leaving because you are all I have left in this world. Like you said last night, everyone is dead –– except for my sister, but she hates me. The last time you left me all alone it almost killed me. Stay and let me try to fix this.”

Cara kept right on packing. “Not once, Cara, not once have I asked anything of you. Now I’m asking. Please don’t leave me again.” All she got back from Cara was dead silence.

Kahlan looked on as Cara continued tossing various items of clothing into her bag. For as much as she didn’t want to do it, Kahlan took a deep breath and said, “Cara, I know.” She paused for a moment and added, “I know about the boy.” Cara whipped her head around and glared at her, as a single tear ran down her cheek. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just a little girl –– the bravest little girl in the world. None of it was your fault. ”

“You don’t know,” Cara said, clenching her fists at her sides. “You don’t know anything. It was my fault, all of it was my fault. None of it would have happened had I just done as I was told. What if that kid grew up to be an evil fuck just like his daddy? And who the fuck told you? Was it Denna? Are you and Denna pals now?”

“So you are blaming a ten-year-old girl for this? For having been victimized by a sociopath? Because that’s what you were, baby. You were a little girl to whom an evil monster did horrible things.”

“You don’t get it, do you? All I do is ruin people’s lives. Everyone I care about gets hurt. Why would that kid be any different?”

“Baby, I don’t know how the boy’s life turned out, but I do know that he’s nothing like Rahl. In my heart, I know he’s brave and kind and strong, just like you. Rahl couldn’t turn you into a monster and his DNA didn’t turn that boy into a monster either. And I’m not going to lie to you. Denna did tell me but not because she wanted to tell me; I had to pry it out of her. Cara, other than me and Shota, she never told a soul.”

Cara sat on the sofa and covered her face with her hands for a moment. “I never wanted you to know,” she said. “You were the one pure thing in my life. I didn’t want you to ever know.”

“Baby,” she said, cupping Cara’s cheeks, “it doesn’t change anything. You are still the person I admire most in the world. With everything you’ve lived through, you’re still the same girl I fell in love with on the first day of school. A lesser person would have lashed out at others, or allowed herself to be molded by that monster, but you didn’t. I’m in awe of you, baby.” She wrapped her arms around Cara and held her for as long as she’d allow it. “Please, baby, please don’t do this to me,” she said, but Cara tore away from her anyway.

And then the flood gates opened. Kahlan started crying like a baby. There was no end to her supply of tears. When she couldn’t take it anymore, Cara tossed the bag aside, and pulled Kahlan into her arms. “I’ll stay; I’ll do anything you want. Just stop crying. Please.” Kahlan silently thanked the Spirits for Cara’s lifelong low tolerance for her tears.

“Thank you,” Kahlan said, as she wiped away her tears, and sniffled into Cara’s hair.

“You don’t have to thank me, just don’t cry anymore. Okay?”

Kahlan nodded and pouted a bit, then gave her a soft lingering kiss on the lips. “No one leaves,” she said to Cara. “We’re in this together, no matter what. Agreed?”

Cara released a resigned sigh, and with a shrug, said, “Agreed, but no more crying.”

Kahlan gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry about the snot on your hair.”

Cara chuckled in response. “Yeah, that was kind of gross.” She paused for a moment, and with a meaningful look, she said, “But I’m still here.”

Kahlan squeezed her shoulder and gave her a nod. “Now it’s time we get to work. All of these things already happened. We need to move on and focus on the present.”

Cara sighed. “Meaning that I get yet another legal pad?”

“You do, and you also get a number two pencil. I want you to make a list of anyone you can think of that had a reason to want Rahl dead –– excluding the two of us, of course.”

Cara pursed her lips and nodded. “So I’m basically conducting a census report of the entire planet and scratching the two of us off the list. Yeah, that might take a while.”

“Just do the best that you can. Oh, and include as much detail as to why they’d want him dead. In the meantime, I’m going to do some research.” She walked into her bedroom and came back wearing a white tank top, orange shorts, and a cap. “What?” she asked, when she noticed Cara was scratching her head and wrinkling her nose. “It’s my research outfit.”

Cara opened and closed her mouth several times before actually saying anything. “Your research outfit is a Hooters uniform?”

Kahlan took a look at herself in the mirror, and said, “Yeah, I guess it is. Funny, I never noticed that before. It does explain all the stares I’d get at the library back in college.”

Cara’s palm met her own forehead. “You’re the biggest dork on the planet. And you’re not leaving here dressed like that.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. You have heard of the internet?”

“Yeah, me and some guy named Al invented it. Now stop interrupting me. I have a list to compile.”

For the rest of the afternoon, they were all business. Cara filled two dozen pages with the names of people who had major beefs with Rahl. “It’s a wonder he lived as long as he did,” she mumbled as she compiled the list.

Kahlan didn’t say a word; she was going over court transcripts dating back almost two decades. The things Rahl had gotten away with over the years were appalling. There’d been hundreds of investigations opened, many of which led to charges, serious charges that should have gotten Rahl tossed in the slammer for life. It didn’t take Kahlan long to realize all of those cases had a common denominator: Judge Demmin Nass. When she saw Nass’s signature and seal on Cara’s adoption papers, she went into a rage. “That bastard! That corrupt son of a bitch! He did this to you, Cara. He did this to you and I’m going to make him pay for it.”

“Kahlan, who are you talking about?” By the time Cara finished asking the question, Kahlan’s face was buried in Cara’s hair and she was sobbing. “For fuck’s sake, we said no more crying,” Cara said throwing up her arms. “Sit. I’m going to get you a drink. Don’t move.”

Cara came back with a box of tissues and bottle of vodka. She poured Kahlan a drink that she threw back without even blinking. “Now, calm down and tell me why you’re crying.”

“I’m crying because the system doesn’t work, Cara. You never should have ended up with Rahl. I was only ten, but even then I smelled a rat, and I was right. Take a look at this,” she said, handing Cara the court records she’d printed out. “Don’t you get it? No other judge would have given Rahl custody of you. There weren’t any social workers involved, no home visits, nothing. He signed the documents and pushed it through the courts. He didn’t care that you were just a little girl. By then he’d been in Rahl’s pocket for years. You had no one to protect you, no one to turn to. The system is supposed protect the innocent, not prey upon them.”

The system not working wasn’t news to Cara. She’d been trampled on for most of her life, but right now injustice wasn’t something she could afford to worry about. At this moment, Kahlan was all that mattered. “Hey, I need you to listen to me, okay?” Kahlan sniffled and nodded. “You’re all I’ve got. I can’t have you falling to pieces on me. Like you said, that stuff already happened. We can’t change it so we have to stay focused on finding a way to get me out of this mess. I’ve got some weird self-destruct trigger programmed into my brain, a potential life sentence hanging over me, and possibly a drone aimed directly at me. If you lose it, I’ve got nothing left; I need you to be strong for me. You asked me to stay and I did; you can’t check out on me now.” Kahlan nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. “And you know what? Tonight I’m making dinner. But you need to quit it with the snot in my hair.” Kahlan gave her a giggle and nodded, but all the while she was plotting how, exactly, she was going to bring down Nass.

While Cara cooked dinner, Kahlan jumped on the phone with Richard; she told him everything, and much like she predicted, he sprang into action. He wanted justice for Cara just as much as Kahlan did.

“Dinner is served,” Cara said.

Kahlan blinked. “We’re having Belgian waffles for dinner?” Cara nodded. Kahlan shook her head and laughed. “That is awesome,” she said, and kissed Cara on the cheek. They fell asleep cuddled up on the sofa watching Gilda –– for the third time in a row.

By the next morning, transcripts of Nass’s cases were all over the internet. Pretty soon bloggers across the country were digging up even more dirt on him –– among which were several sex tapes involving underage girls, some of whom had been Rahl’s girls. Richard penned an article that got picked up by every major news source, and he posted a video on Youtube that went viral within an hour. It showed dozens of images of Nass and Rahl partying together all over the globe.

A retired journalist who’d worked at the Aydindril Post for over thirty years sent Richard an article he’d written about the Masons’ murder and Cara’s subsequent adoption. It had made the front page of the paper. The headline read, “Little Girl Delivered into the Hands of a Monster”. Within hours, just about every copy of the paper had been bought up –– by Darken Rahl, and the editor of the paper wound up dead. It was ruled a suicide; Nass had signed the death certificate.

None of that could make up for the horrors Cara had endured but at least Nass’s career, and probably his life, was ruined. Kahlan didn’t stop there; she was going to make the most of this in terms of Cara’s case. Within a few days, Cara became a cause. There were “Free Cara” petitions circulating all over the city, and on the internet as well. Picketers were standing outside the courthouse holding up signs with pictures of Cara as a nine-year-old. There was even a tent with a bunch of people on a hunger strike. TV reporters were interviewing people who had known the Masons. Not a single person had a bad word to say about them. “The salt of the earth, they were, and that sweet little girl, she was an absolute angel,” that was the consensus.

Cara found the entire situation annoying and ridiculous but Kahlan insisted it was helping her case. “People love you,” Kahlan said. “The more prospective jurors that see that angelic mug of yours, the less likely they are to convict you.”

“So you think pimping my fourth-grade school picture is my ticket to freedom?” she asked, with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow. “What about all that evidence against me you keep harping about?”

“All we need is reasonable doubt. If even one juror holds out because she saw that adorable picture of you and it tugged at her heartstrings, we win.”

Kahlan knew it wasn’t as easy at that, but at the very least, it was making Mike nervous, and she’d known him long enough to know that when he was nervous, he got sloppy –– and desperate. Prosecutorial misconduct was the quickest way out of this mess, and she wasn’t at all against it.

“Kahlan,” Cara said, nudging at Kahlan’s shoulder; Kahlan covered her head with a pillow. “Wake up.” She gave her a hard shove that almost knocked her off the bed.

“What?” she said. “Is your head on fire? Otherwise, I’m going back to sleep.”

“Come look at this,” Cara said, dragging her out of bed. “Do you see that?”

Kahlan burst out laughing, earning herself a scowl from Cara. “You find it amusing that there’s a twenty-foot-tall “Stop Illegal Adoptions” billboard with my face on it?”

“Baby, calm down. All of the publicity will taper off soon enough, but the image of that cute little girl just might keep you out of jail.”

Cara wasn’t happy about any of it. Denna was still on the prosecution’s witness list, Richard was being dragged into this mess, Zedd still hadn’t found a way to deactivate the self-destruct trigger that had been programmed into her brain, and to top it off, now she had fans. Still, she had to admit that Kahlan’s strategy made sense. The overwhelming amount of people who wanted Rahl dead made for one heck of a suspect pool. While the evidence pointed squarely at Cara, the likeability factor, coupled with the shoddy police work, were the basis of her defense. If Rahl had a judge in his pocket, Kahlan would argue that he surely had a small army of cops in his pocket as well.

***

A loud knock on the door interrupted Kahlan’s slumber. “I think I can clear the kill switch in Cara’s head,” Zedd blurted out as soon as Kahlan opened the door. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair looked as if a flock of seagulls had nested in it. “I’ve been working on it with one of my old students since the last time I was here.”

“Oh, Zedd,” Kahlan said, throwing her arms around him but quickly pulling away from him. “You smell awful.”

“Yes, well, personal hygiene has to take a back seat when someone’s life is on the line. Where is she?”

“In the shower. She’ll be out in a minute, and you should probably go in there right after her. Just toss your clothes out; I’ll put them in the washer. And thank you, Zedd.” This time she decided to forego the hug.

“What the hell is that smell?” Cara asked as soon as she walked out of the bathroom.

“Zedd,” Kahlan said with a shrug. The old man rolled his eyes and headed straight for the shower.

“He thinks he may have found a way to deactivate the trigger in your head.”

“Does it entail mating with holler monkeys? Because that’s what it smells like.” Cara scrunched her nose and crossed her arms.

Kahlan tried her best to keep a straight face but she couldn’t manage it. “You are so cute when you’re grumpy.”

“I was trying to be menacing, not cute,” she said with a scowl.

“Come on,” Kahlan said, putting her arm around Cara’s shoulders. “I’ll make the coffee, you whip us up some breakfast. Hopefully, it’ll improve your mood.”

“What’s wrong with my mood?” Cara said, with her hands on her hips.

Kahlan shook her head with a big grin on her face. “You’re being cute again.”

“Menacing, I’m being menacing, not cute.”

“If you say so,” Kahlan said.

“I say so,” Cara said as they walked into the kitchen.

Zedd stuck his arm out of the bathroom door just as Kahlan and Cara finished breakfast. “I smell food,” the old man said, earning himself not one but two eye rolls. Kahlan promptly took his clothes out of the dryer and handed them to him –– completely ignoring his food remark.

Once he was dressed, the three of them went into the bedroom. “Here’s what were going to do: you are going to completely relax, and with your eyes closed, you’re going to lie down and count backwards from ten to zero. Then you’re going to take three deep breaths, and without opening your eyes, you’re going look up and to the left, and hold that position for ten breaths and immediately open your eyes. But first, you need release all the tension in your body and quiet your mind.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because that’s so easy to do when some wacky old dude is making minced meat out of my brain.”

“Don’t worry,” Kahlan said, to Zedd, “I’ve got this.” She took hold of Cara’s hand and walked her into the bedroom. After about twenty minutes, she called out to Zedd. “She’s ready for you,” Kahlan said with a smirk on her face.

“What did you do to her?” Zedd asked.

“Trade secret,” Kahlan said.

With Kahlan looking on, Cara followed Zedd’s instructions to a tee. “That should do it,” he said, giving Cara’s several minutes to return to herself.

“How do you feel?” Zedd asked.

Cara shook her head and with a grimace, said, “Like I’m about to toss my cookies. I really wish you’d stopped poking around in my brain.”

The old man chuckled. “Hopefully this is the last time. Try to take it easy for the rest of the day.” Since she’d done nothing other than lounge on Kahlan’s sofa for weeks, she found the advice rather silly.

“If she develops a headache or seems disoriented, call me,” he said to Kahlan.

Cara plunked down on the sofa with her feet on the coffee table. “Yep, that’s me. The person who hears you talking about me as if I weren’t in the room.”

“On that note, I’ll leave you to deal with her.” Kahlan gave him a hug and walked him to the elevator.

“If I don’t go to prison I’ll buy you a drink, old man.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Zedd said with a smile on his face.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Kahlan does her best to keep things between her and Cara strictly professional but her feelings for Cara constantly rise to the surface –– even when she's, how shall I put it, otherwise engaged.

After hours of replying to emails regarding the case, Kahlan sat down on the sofa next to Cara. “Are you feeling better?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just a bit of stiff neck –– probably from sitting around doing nothing.”

“Here, let me work on it for you.” Cara released a sigh and turned to lie down on her stomach. “Take off your t-shirt.” She stared down at Cara’s lean muscles and bit her lower lip. “You haven’t been outside for who knows how long yet you still have a perfect tan. How is that even possible?”

“Are you massaging me, or checking me out?” Cara asked, looking up at her with a smirk on her face. Kahlan chuckled and kept right on working on Cara’s neck and shoulders. It didn’t take long for Cara to start humming with pleasure. After almost an hour, she released a deep sigh that left Kahlan with a big grin on her face and Cara dozing off. Kahlan ran her hands down Cara’s back and up again, covered her with a blanket and kissed her temple.

While Cara napped, Kahlan pored over the witness statements and the various items the prosecution had submitted as evidence. All of it appeared to be rock solid which only added to Kahlan’s skepticism. It painted a picture of an open and shut case –– a prosecutor’s dream. The more she read, the more convinced she was that Cara had been set up to take the fall for Rahl’s murder. Someone went through a whole lot of trouble to make certain Cara looked guilty as hell, guilty enough for the cops to not even bother to consider other suspects.

She got up from behind her desk and walked into the living room. “Seven billion souls on this earth,” she said kneeling down beside Cara and lightly running her fingers through her hair. “Which one of them hates you enough to do this to you?” Darken Rahl came to mind but he was already dead, and Mike Cypher of course, but Kahlan didn’t think him clever enough to pull it off. “A dead man and an incompetent lackey. Those are my main suspects,” she said, shaking her head.

Whoever slipped that DVD underneath Denna’s door was the key to getting Cara out of this mess. “Chase,” she said into her phone, “I need a topnotch PI and a skilled hacker –– but they have to be trustworthy.”

“Is this for Cara’s case?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Come to my office in the morning. I’ve got you covered.”

***

“Cara, baby,” Kahlan whispered into her ear when she hung up the phone. “You’ll sleep better on the bed.” Cara lifted her head off the cushion, and with one eye opened, stared up at Kahlan. “Come,” she said, offering Cara a hand. Cara sat up –– without her t-shirt. Kahlan licked her lips and stared for a minute before handing Cara her shirt. “You might want to put this on,” she said, “Not that I mind the view,” she added under her breath.

“When did you become such a perv?” Cara asked with a raised eyebrow and a lopsided smile.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that time you snuck out of the Rahl mansion for a few hours when we were fourteen and you taught me all about the birds and bees. Which one of us was the bee again?”

Cara laughed, really laughed, for the first time since she’d moved in. “Yeah, we did have a case of raging hormones back then.” The sound of her laughter faded quickly. “We never had a chance, did we? It all fell apart even before it started.”

“We both had to grow up fast, baby, you especially. Come on, let’s go to sleep.” Kahlan held her hand and walked her into the master bedroom. Cara’s bed hadn’t gotten much use in the past few days.

The next morning, Kahlan could hardly tear herself away from Cara to go meet with Chase. She left her a note and placed Ragedee on the pillow next to her for company. And just as she was about to leave the apartment, she walked back to the bedroom and pressed her nose to Cara’s hair for a long moment. Even traffic failed to chase away the grin on her face. But truth be told, it also scared the hell out of her. She was falling for Cara all over again; there was no denying it. Only this time she wasn’t a lovesick teenager, she was a grown woman who knew better than to repeat the mistakes of the past, and Cara was the past. Too much had happened between them for her to even consider a future with Cara –– not that Cara had expressed any interest in a future with her. In fact, the notion of Cara even having a future was a risky bet. Still, even knowing why Cara did what she did, the heartache over Cara had brought her to her knees to such an extent that she could not allow herself to ever be that vulnerable again. Cara, she surmised, was pure kryptonite; there was no way she’d survive round two.

Kahlan released a deep sigh and turned on her bluetooth headset. “Hey,” she said, “dinner tonight? Or, if you prefer, we can go straight for dessert. Eight o’clock sounds perfect.” It was hard not to feel like she was using Sabrina as a means of distancing herself from Cara, but how could she not feel that way when that was exactly what she was doing? “Oh Spirits,” she mumbled, “do I really suck this much?”

By the time she reached Chase’s office she had sworn off the hot blonde on the 11th floor, promised herself she wouldn’t step out on Sabrina again, and as soon as she got home she was going to make it clear to Cara that theirs was strictly a professional relationship. There would be no more cuddling, bed-sharing, or kisses. Oh, and no more walking around the apartment half naked. That was that.

***

“K,” Chase said, greeting her with his usual broad grin. “Come in. The kid’ll be here in a second.”

“The kid?” she echoed with a skeptical frown.

“She’s topnotch, K, and she’s been following the case from the get-go. She’s the one PI in this town I trust.” Kahlan gave him a firm nod; Chase had never let her down.

Minutes later a girl who could not have been much more than eighteen years old walked in the door. She was all teenage swagger with blue highlights in her hair, and wearing a hoodie with the words ‘stick it to the man’ in neon orange. “What’s up, bossman?” she said to Chase. “Wow, she’s hot,” she said, turning to face Kahlan.

“Hello,” Kahlan said, with both of her brows raised, staring into the girl’s big brown eyes.

“I’ll go grab a cup of coffee while you two talk,” Chase said.

After a good thirty seconds of sizing each other up, the girl said, “So you’re the Mason chick’s attorney, right?”

“I am,” Kahlan said. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Maxine,” she said. “I read up on the case last night. I’m guessing you’re looking for something specific.”

“Something and someone,” Kahlan said. “The detectives on the scene didn’t find any surveillance footage which seems impossible since that place was a fortress. And there’s someone –– I don’t know who –– I have no clue who it is but someone else is involved.” Kahlan abruptly stopped talking and just stared at her for a few seconds. “How do I know I can trust you? Chase vouched for you but my client’s life is on the line here.”

“I guess you can’t. All I can tell you is that I’m good at what I do and I have no reason to screw you over. Besides, the Mason chick, if those things they’re writing about her on the internet really happened to her and she didn’t kill those guys, I wouldn’t mind getting her out of jam. Aydindril is a big city, but in many ways it’s smaller than you can imagine.”

Kahlan gazed into the girl’s eyes for a long moment as if reading her intentions, and in the end she decided to trust her. “How did you get involved in this type of work?”

“My Pop was a PI. I followed him around like a puppy when I was little. He got me my first computer when I was three.” She paused for a second and sat on the edge of Chase’s desk. “After he died, I could have been the Mason chick. I was just luckier than her; I had my grandma and I wasn’t nine, I was fifteen, big difference.”

“I’m sorry about your father,” Kahlan said. “He certainly raised you to be capable of taking care of yourself.” With that, she extended her hand out to Maxine, and said, “The job is yours if you want it.” Maxine nodded and shook the offered hand. “Oh,” Kahlan said, “there’s one more thing. A DVD is circulating with information that could be damaging to my client. So far only one copy has surfaced. I’d like to keep it that way, or at the very least know who’s responsible for bringing it to light.”

“I’m on it,” she said. They exchanged contact information and called it a day.

***

When Kahlan got home, the apartment, as usual, was spotless and much to Kahlan’s amazement, Cara had ventured out of her comfort zone and prepared dinner –– a real, actual dinner, not waffles. “Wow,” Kahlan said, “you skipped right over lunch and ventured into the perilous territory that is dinner.”

“And dessert, too,” Cara said, more than a little impressed with her own achievement.

“I’ll open a bottle of ––” And before she could finish, she remembered she’d made dinner plans with Sabrina. She also recalled her promise to keep things with Cara strictly professional. “Sadly, I have plans for the evening,” she said, doing her best not to meet Cara’s gaze. She knew the expression she’d see on Cara’s face –– she also knew it would rip her heart out to see it.

Cara pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, no worries. It probably sucks anyway.”

“I have to get ready,” Kahlan said, scurrying into the bedroom and closing the door behind her. She plunked down on the bed and hugged Ragedee to her chest. “Ragedee, what should I do? I can’t keep treating Sabrina this way. It isn’t right. I know you have a personal bias since Cara’s your mommy but…Oh God,” she said, her palm swiftly meeting her forehead, “I’m having a conversation with a doll. I’m a grown woman asking a rag doll for relationship advice.” She steeled her resolve and got dressed. Thankfully, Cara had gone into her bedroom.

“Goodbye, Cara,” she whispered to the closed door.

During the entire drive to Sabrina’s place, she thought about Cara sitting alone at the table staring down at her plate. It was all she could do to keep herself from turning the car around and beelining it back home, back to Cara.

***

Sabrina greeted her with a smile, followed by a languid kiss. “Hey, gorgeous,” she said, taking Kahlan by the hand and leading her straight to the bedroom where two glasses of wine were waiting for them. “I know you prefer having your dessert before dinner.”

“I do,” Kahlan said, picking up her wine glass and swallowing its contents in a single gulp, only to pour herself a second glass a moment later. Wine had always been her preferred method of dealing with guilt –– misplaced guilt in this case. She did her best to push all thoughts of Cara aside and focus on Sabrina –– it wasn’t long before they were both lying back on the bed panting from exertion.

“You’re amazing,” Sabrina said to her, leaning in and kissing the tops of her breasts and then her lips. When she noticed Kahlan reaching for her blouse, she said, “Stay the night. We’ve been seeing each other for months, Kahlan. I make a mean cup of coffee, and my pancakes aren’t half bad.”

Kahlan buried her face in a pillow. Pancakes made her think of breakfast, which made her think of Cara, which made her even feel guiltier, which made her want to cry. “I can’t,” she said. “Maybe next time. I have to be at the courthouse early.” It was a complete lie.

Sabrina looked at her long and hard. “Is this thing between us going anywhere, Kahlan? I’m starting to feel like your late-night plaything –– not that I’m complaining. I just need to know where I stand.”

This wasn’t a conversation Kahlan felt like having at the moment, but she knew it would come up at some point. “Of course it is. I’ve just been preoccupied with this case. Please be patient with me; it’ll be over soon.”

Sabrina nodded. “I have a work-related function coming up soon; I’d like you to come with me –– as my date. You know, with our clothes on, in a room full of people, having hors d'oeuvres and drinking champagne. Do you think you can manage that?”

Kahlan kissed her on the lips and smiled. “I can definitely manage that,” she said. With that, she got dressed and left. The prospect of a real date terrified her a little. Over the last few years she’d avoided anything that felt remotely like a commitment. This date, however, was kind of exciting. Maybe she’d finally be able to move on with her life.

When she got home, she found a plate of food waiting for her on the dining room table with a note on it that said, ‘eat’. It was classic Cara and it made her smile. She stared at the note for a long moment, and that’s when it hit her, she was never going to get over Cara, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t choose to move on. She picked up the note and took it into the bedroom with her, placing it on her nightstand so that it would be the first thing she’d see when she opened her eyes in the morning.

***

Kahlan knocked on Cara’s door as soon as she got out of bed the next morning. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Cara said, staring down at the floor.

“Thank you for dinner. It was delicious.” She sat down next to Cara on the bed, making a superhuman effort to not run her fingers through her hair or kiss her on the cheek or hold her hand. “So I met with a PI regarding your case yesterday; Chase recommended her. She’s young but very sharp and she wants to help.”

“I have some dough in a safety deposit box in Galea. You can use it to pay Kalinda.” Cara looked tired and sad –– maybe even a little defeated.

“To pay Ka-who ?” Kahlan asked when she registered what Cara had said.

“Kalinda, she’s a PI,” Cara said, in a complete monotone with her arm hanging down the side of the bed, “she has a Louisville Slugger and she wears really short skirts. If you spent your entire life lying on the sofa watching TV like I do, you’d know who she is.”

Kahlan sighed. “I have no idea who this Kalinda person is, but Maxine, our PI, is going to try to recover footage from the Rahl compound. I also asked her to track down the source of that DVD. We’re in the eleventh hour, Cara. We need all the help we can get.”

For as much as Kahlan was doing her best to establish some boundaries between them, she couldn’t help but kneel down beside her and run her fingers through her hair. “I’m going to go shower,” Cara said, rising to her feet. As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder at Kahlan for a couple of seconds. “Thanks for everything, Kahlan. You’re a good friend.” Kahlan smiled at her and nodded.

***

Life suddenly became a whirlwind of activity for Kahlan. She had to put together her own witness list, continue her media blitz, and more importantly, find a way to lift Cara’s spirits. She needed Cara bright and alert once the trial started. She’d had clients sink into depression during trials before and it was always a complete disaster. There were also more mundane tasks such as buying Cara a few outfits to wear at court –– old Nirvana t-shirts and boy shorts weren’t going to cut it. On top of that, she had to figure out what she was going to wear to her big date with Sabrina. That she hadn’t heard from Maxine also had her on edge, but she’d worked with enough investigators to know that they all loved making a heroic courtroom entrance at the last moment; she had no reason to think Maxine would be any different.

After days with hardly enough time to breathe, she finally decided to focus on cheering up Cara. “Hey,” she said, sitting down on the sofa next to her. “Are you ready for round four of Gilda?”

Cara turned her head and looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head no. “Nah, I think I’ll turn in early.”

“Cara, it’s three in the afternoon. Sit with me for a while. We’ve hardly had a chance to talk during the last few days,” she said. “I miss you.” Cara sat back down and stared at the wall. “We’re going to get through this trial, baby. I’m very good at what I do.”

Cara pursed her lips and nodded. “And then what?” she asked. “There’s nothing for me here –– or anywhere for that matter. I have no friends, no family. If I don’t go to jail, I won’t even have a place to live. Either way, I’m totally fucked.”

“You have me, Cara. I’ll help you rebuild your life. And you have Richard and Zedd. We all love you, baby. You just can’t fall apart on me. I need you to have faith in me, in us.” She pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth and held her hand –– completely blowing her promise to keep things strictly professional.

“Kahlan, you have a life, I don’t. That’s the truth of the matter. Sure, if I don’t go to jail, I’ll probably get laid every night. Who knows, maybe I’ll hook up with Paloma again but none of it’ll be real. She already lied to me about, well, everything. What would be the use?”

“No,” Kahlan said, “you’re not going that route. I’m not going to let you worry about the future while we’re still trying to straighten out the present.” She grabbed Cara’s arm and lifted her off the sofa. “We’re staying in for dinner and a movie. Come help me with dinner; you pick the movie.”

“Porn?” Cara asked, with a smirk.

Kahlan chuckled and gave her a shove. “Oh, and I’m the perv?” she asked. Cara didn’t say it, but Kahlan knew she appreciated the effort.

Just as they were about to sit down for dinner, Kahlan’s cell phone rang. “Good job,” she said to the voice on the other end of the phone. “I’ll call you in the morning to arrange a meeting.”

“What was that about?” Cara asked.

“The PI, she found the DVDs –– all of them, I hope. They were in a storage facility about a mile away from the Aydindril PD evidence lockers. This has Mike Cypher written all over it,” she said. “But,” she added after a long pause, “I can’t tamper with evidence, Cara.”

“So what was the point of looking for them?” Cara asked.

“So that Mike can tamper with evidence,” she said. “I haven’t given up on the prosecutorial misconduct angle. If Mike was stashing those DVDs and they suddenly go missing, he’ll go looking for them. That’s when I’ll nail him to the wall. If it isn’t he who is stashing them, someone else’ll be scrambling to find them. It could very well be our mysterious stranger, or one of the detectives. Any of them will do just fine as far as I’m concerned.” Cara had a big grin on her face. “What?” Kahlan asked.

“You’re hot as hell when you’re being all devious,” she said.

Kahlan shook her head and released a tiny chuckle. For as much as she was trying to keep things light, on the inside, she was a ball of anxiety. With Cara’s memory loss and Paloma the only person who could corroborate Cara’s claim of having been drugged and put into a box and transported to some unknown destination, Kahlan’s defense strategy was all smoke and mirrors. Character witnesses were helpful, as was the media blitz, but none of it was enough to garner reasonable doubt. She had to find at least one concrete piece of evidence to counter Cypher’s heavy artillery. That evidence, she surmised, had to be a smoking gun –– one with prints other than Cara’s.

Still, they curled up on the sofa with the intention of watching a movie, but when Kahlan turned on the TV, there was Demmin Nass’s mugshot in all of its glory staring back at them. “Judge Demmin Nass was taken into custody by the Aydindril PD as he attempted to flee the country with a forged passport. Officers at the scene stated that Nass resisted arrest, and went as far as drawing a weapon. Nass had recently come under scrutiny for his business dealings with slain crime lord Darken Rahl. Evidence has surfaced from various credible sources implicating him in crimes ranging from judicial misconduct to child exploitation. If convicted of these alleged crimes, Nass could face consecutive life sentences.

“At the center of this case is this little girl,” said the news reporter, pointing at Cara’s fourth grade school picture.

“For fuck’s sake,” Cara said; Kahlan promptly shushed her.

“This beautiful little girl, now a grown woman, is accused of a triple homicide that has left many of Aydindril’s citizens in shock. Social media and major news outlets have spoken of little else in the past few weeks.”

“What are your thoughts on the case, Amy?” the anchor asked his co-anchor.

“Look at that face,” she said. “I think there’s got to be more to this story. Like most of Aydindril, I think she’s a victim of circumstance.”

“Aha,” Kahlan said, cupping Cara’s face and pressing a kiss to her lips. “Even the mainstream media is rooting for you.”

Cara shook her head. “Great, now I’m on the news. Next thing you know, Brad and Angelina’ll want to adopt me.” She rested her head on Kahlan’s lap and changed the channel. Kahlan threaded Cara’s hair and massaged her scalp with fingertips until she started to doze off.

“Go to bed, baby,” Kahlan said. She kissed Cara on the cheek and helped her off the sofa.

After Cara had gone to bed, Kahlan stood at Cara’s preferred spot by the window and asked herself a question. “What do I know?” She rested her forehead on the windowpane, just as Cara was fond of doing, and she stared out at the rain until the answer came to her. “Cara is not a killer, that’s what I know.” She stayed there for a long time taking in every detail of the view, which, she was certain, Cara had committed to memory by now. The rain crashed against the glass like droplets of gold falling from the night sky. It was the tall streetlight across the way that gave the drops that golden quality. It occurred to her that it had been Cara who, in their shared youth, had always pointed out those sorts of things. She found beauty in everything back then and she saw things, details, that no one else noticed. “Look at the light,” Cara would say as they walked to school, “it’s turning the frozen leaves into diamonds and the rain into droplets of gold.” Back then, Kahlan would just shake her head and smile. Cara was only a six-year-old but she was already an alchemist, transforming potholes into magical fountains and clouds into swans. Without even realizing it, Kahlan began to cry. There was no one in this world as beautiful as the little girl she’d met on the first day of school all those years ago. Cara was not going to go to jail, she decided right then and there, and she was not going to jail because Kahlan would move heaven and earth to keep it from happening. She wiped away the tears and went to bed, clinging to Ragedee as if she were a talisman that would keep her, and Cara, from harm.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Mike Cypher pulls a fast one that causes Kahlan to throw a bit of a tantrum, there's also some retail therapy, and a couple of interesting new character.

The next morning, she read through all the transcripts again. “Cara,” she called out from her spot behind the kitchen counter. “What color was the light?” she asked.

Cara stretched her arms over her head and released a gigantic yawn. “Can the weird questions wait until I’m fully awake?”

“No,” Kahlan said. That response earned her a scowl and a put-upon sigh. “You told Zedd and me that you opened the safe and took out the gun, then you put it back in the safe, and you sat down and waited for the police, but you didn’t give us any details about your surroundings, about what you saw and what you felt.”

Cara walked over to the window and thought for a long moment. “It was dim and sort of grayish with a hint of yellow. The air…it felt heavy, almost as if it was stale, and the light, it was all wrong.”

“Wrong how, baby?”

“I don’t know. I lived in that place for years but the light was never like that before. It…it was because the chandelier was off in the main hall. That light was always on but not on that day. There must have been a lamp on –– yeah, the lamp in the hallway. It sort of cut the room in half –– dim light on one side, complete darkness on the other.”

She turned around and looked at Kahlan for a long moment. “What is it, baby? What are you remembering?”

Cara frowned and pursed her lips. “It’s not a memory; it’s more like a feeling, a feeling that someone was watching me –– from the dark side of the room. Like they were there on purpose, hiding so that they could see but not be seen. It was creepy, like a horror movie.”

“Okay, but the air, you said it was stale? Why would that be?”

Cara’s eyes widened and she raised her index finger. “It was hot in there, hot as hell. Like someone turned off the air conditioning. But that’s impossible. Darken insisted the temperature had to be at seventy-three degrees year-round. Still, though, it felt muggy in there, and it smelled, it smelled like…death.”

Kahlan diligently jotted it all down on her legal pad. If Cara felt like she was being watched, Kahlan took it for granted that she was being watched. As Cara’s attorney, it was her job to somehow turn that into reasonable doubt. “So, the real killer was lurking in the shadows while you sat there in shock, next to the dead bodies.” She was pacing in front of the sofa and gesturing with her hands. “And in an effort to add to your discomfort and accentuate the scent of death, the killer turned off the air conditioning.”

Cara burst out laughing. “This is what you lawyer-types do? Make stuff sound all dramatic and somewhat plausible?”

“Not always, but in lieu of evidence, theatrics come in handy. It’s just a question of balance. All in a day’s work, love.” Cara turned her head and met Kahlan’s gaze. Kahlan quickly looked away, wishing she’d chosen a different word. “I’m going to… look over my notes,” she said rushing into the bedroom.

In the meantime, Cara grabbed one of Kahlan’s legal pads and started drawing. Each player, she decided, deserved a portrait. She began with the supporting cast, illustrating detailed renditions of the two guards, followed by an image of Paloma, and one of Denna. It then occurred to her that Richard and Mike also merited the same treatment. The last drawing was of Darken, with his straggly long hair and wearing one of those ridiculous outfits he favored. “The asshole who would be king,” she said to herself shaking her head at recalling her adoptive father’s megalomania. “You were one sick fuck, Darken.” It only took her a moment to realize that someone was missing but somehow she could not conjure a mental image of the missing player. “Damn it,” she said, crumbling up that final sheet. “Who the hell are you and why can’t I remember you?”

Then it hit her, the old violinist in Mexico - that was the kind man Paloma had referred to, she was sure of it. Find the old man and we find Paloma.

“Kahlan,” she called out, “get out here.”

“What is it, baby, are you okay?”

“The old guy with the violin in Mexico, find him and we find Paloma.” It only took her a couple of minutes to draw a sketch of him. “That’s him,” she said pointing at the drawing.

Kahlan thought for a long moment. “So we’d have to find a violin-playing Mexican senior citizen in one of the most populated cities in the world with nothing to go on other than this sketch.”

“When you put it that way,” Cara said, rolling her eyes and releasing a frustrated sigh.

“Mm,” Kahlan said, “we have two possible options. The obvious one, I don’t think you’ll like.”

“If it involves your narc girlfriend, you can forget about it,” Cara said, crossing her arms and raising an angry eyebrow.

“That’s what I thought you’d say. Lucky for you, I have another suggestion –– one that I think you’ll approve of.”

“Go on,” Cara said, edging forward on the sofa and resting a hand on each of her knees.

“Maxine. If she’s as good as Chase claims, she could find him. Think about it, it took her less than a day to track down the DVDs and she’s confident she’ll be able to salvage footage from Rahl’s surveillance system.”

“I don’t know, Kahlan. How can we be sure that he’s even in Mexico? Maybe he joined Paloma wherever the hell she went. Besides, I don’t feel too good about sending an eighteen-year-old kid into a dangerous situation. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“And you’re 100% against my suggestion that I ask Sabrina for help? If Paloma is in the NSA database, I’m sure her cohorts are as well.”

Cara shook her head. “I don’t trust the NSA, Kahlan, and I certainly don’t want your girlfriend to get curious about me.”

“Can you please stop referring to her as my girlfriend?”

“Fine, I don’t want your favorite booty call involved.” She paused for a long moment, and added, “I do think that if Paloma thinks I’m in trouble she’ll step up to help me.”

Kahlan clenched her jaw and her fists. “Of course she would.” With that, she turned on her heel and started to walk away.

“Will you please chill about this Paloma thing?” she said, taking hold of Kahlan’s forearm. “Look, she cares, that’s the bottom line, and yes, I know she doesn’t want me to fry. Why not work that angle?”

“Do you love her?” Kahlan asked, in a tone that was pure vulnerability. “No, don’t answer that,” she said, raising her palm, “it’s none of my business.” It took her less than a breath to flip the switch and be all business again. “Do you have any other means of communicating with her? And more importantly, do you think she’d be willing to risk her freedom, and maybe even her life, by coming to Aydindril?”

Cara scratched her head and thought for a moment. “Paloma is slick. Hell, I fell for her spiel. She’d find a way to get herself out of trouble. But as far as getting hold of her, I don’t know, I guess I can try Skyping her again.”

“Mmm, yes, I’m sure she’ll be very happy to hear from you,” Kahlan said with as much disdain as she could muster. Cara decided to completely ignore the remark.

“Can I borrow your laptop?”

“By all means,” she said pointing over at it. “Heaven forbid Paloma be deprived of the sound of your voice.”

Cara released a puff of air, and grabbed the laptop off the counter, ignoring Kahlan’s sarcasm a second time. She stared at the screen for a long moment before logging in. “Here goes nothing.” After a couple of seconds, the dreaded “incorrect password and/or username” error popped up on the screen. She entered the credential a second time but it was useless; Paloma had gone off the grid, she was certain of it. Cara shrugged. “Nothing,” she said.

“Think,” Kahlan said. “Did you meet any of her friends? Maybe you exchanged email addresses, phone numbers, anything. You said she lived in a huge penthouse. Was there a staff member, someone whom she trusted?”

Cara shook her head no. “She’d always send everyone away when I came into town. Unless Paloma contacts me, I don’t think we’ll ever find her.”

Before Cara could say another word, Kahlan’s phone rang. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said to the person on the other end. “There’s absolutely no basis for this request and I will strongly object.” Kahlan tossed her phone on the sofa and released a frustrated hiss. Cara didn’t say a word; she knew Kahlan well enough to allow her the space to work out her anger.

After almost twenty minutes of swearing under her breath, she stomped into the kitchen and tossed pots and pans around the kitchen, then walked back out to the living room and sat down next to Cara. “Mike Cypher called an emergency hearing; he’s requesting a change of venue. If the judge approves it, our media edge may go out the window.”

Cara slumped her shoulders and shook her head. “Do you think the judge’ll go for it?”

“I’ll fight it tooth and nail, that much you can count on. And, no, I don’t think the judge will agree to the change. He’s up for a judgeship in a higher court; keeping a high-profile case at home would serve him well. Besides, Rahl was a very wealthy man, there are plenty of his cronies who’ll be looking to cash in if you were to get convicted, and they’ve been doing the media rounds as well. On the other hand, if you’re acquitted, I’ll make certain that as Rahl’s adoptive daughter, you receive your fair share of his estate –– and by fair share, I mean every cent of it.” She rested her head on Cara’s shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment. “Still, I wish my mom were here,” she said, “she’d fix everything.”

“You’re just as awesome as your mom was, Kahlan. Whatever happens, I know no one would have done a better job than you. I mean aside from keeping me out of prison, you’re looking to make me a billionaire. You’re all kinds of brilliant.”

Kahlan threw her arms around her and said, “Thank you for saying that. You always believed in me more than I believed in myself. And I wish your mom was here, too. I miss your parents just as much as I miss my mom.”

The rest of the morning was spent planning Cara’s outfit for the upcoming hearing and establishing counter-arguments for anything Cypher could throw at her. One thing Kahlan was certain of was that Cypher could not beat her in a fair fight, and in this case she felt she had an edge with the judge. She sat at her desk for a couple of hours filling page after page of her legal pad with notes. The only aspect of this hearing that had Kahlan on edge was the prospect of Cara being transported by the police –– in shackles –– and then placed in a holding cell until the hearing began. She was planning on following the transport van to the courthouse, but she knew it was unlikely that her request that Cara be placed in isolation would be approved. The last time Cara was placed into custody, she came out with a black eye and a deep cut on her forehead. Kahlan wrote a preemptive letter to the warden, threatening a lawsuit if her client left the holding cell with so much as a scratch on her.

“I’ll see you later, baby. Hopefully, you’ll approve of my fashion choices.” She leaned in and kissed Cara on the cheek.

“What’s wrong with my regular clothes?” Cara asked with a scowl.

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “Nothing, if the courtroom has a sofa for you to lounge on.”

“Whatever, but be forewarned, I’m not wearing a dress,” Cara said, crossing her arms on her chest.

“I think you’d look hot in a dress,” Kahlan said, ducking just in time to avoid the pillow Cara threw at her as she rushed out the door.

Kahlan returned late in the evening, bringing with her an off-white, tailored Chanel suit, a blue button-up silk blouse, and a pair of killer heels that she deemed perfect for Cara’s hearing. She also bought a curve-hugging red dress with a plunging neckline for her date with Sabrina. When she walked in she had a spring in her step and a huge grin on her face. Shopping for Cara made her positively giddy, so much so that she peaked into Cara’s room hoping she was still awake. She wasn’t, but Kahlan stood there watching her sleep for several minutes. She studied the fluttering of Cara’s eyelashes, the ebb and flow of her breathing, and the way in which she balled her hands into loose fists supporting her head. Everything about Cara was beautiful and perfect, just as it had always been. Kahlan knew that deep down inside, none of the atrocities Cara was forced to endure had changed her. She was still that sweet, noble little girl and once all of this was over, once Cara was free and safe, she’d find her way in this life.

“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me all night?” Cara said, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. “Or are you going to get into bed?”

Kahlan smiled and tossed off her shoes. “That’s the best offer I’ve had all day,” she said, allowing her dress to slip off her shoulders and pool at her feet. She got into bed, pressing the front of her body to Cara’s back and wrapping her arms around her waist. “So much for keeping it professional,” she said under her breath before pressing a kiss to the back of Cara’s neck and falling asleep.  
***

The day of the hearing came rushing in, and no matter how prepared she was, with Cara’s life on the line, Kahlan could not help but be nervous. Neither of them had much of an appetite that morning so it was coffee and toast for both of them. For as nervous as she was, Kahlan managed to exude infinite confidence. Cara loved that about her. She knew that as soon as Kahlan walked through the door, she’d own the place, just like her mother would have. Even as a little girl, Kahlan had that quality about her. Cara gazed at her from across the table with a smirk on her face. “What?” Kahlan asked, wrinkling her nose.

“You’re a total badass; you always were, even when you were five.”

Kahlan shook her head and smiled. “Let’s hope you’re right.”

A moment later the doorbell rang and they both knew what was coming. The officer pulled out his badge, and with a quick nod, Kahlan acknowledged its validity. One of the guards accompanying him reached for his cuffs, but Kahlan’s raised palm halted him. “I’ll escort my client to the transport van. You can cuff her downstairs.” The guard thought to argue but the death glare he got from Kahlan was enough to practically make him wet his pants. He gave her a quick, ‘yes ma’am’, and with Kahlan and the guard at either side of her, Cara stepped into the transport van; within seconds, her hands and feet were shackled. Kahlan’s hand went to the officer’s shoulder causing him to turn around to face her. “Not a scratch on her,” Kahlan said, with a raised index finger. The officer pursed his lips and tipped his head. When the doors to the van slammed shut, Kahlan felt the air leave her lungs. It took her a moment to gather herself, then she quickly stepped into her car and followed the transport van. She watched as a dozen prisoners, Cara among them, stepped out of the van and disappeared into the building.

When Kahlan walked into the courtroom, the gallery was already full –– mostly with trial junkies and reporters. There were, however, some surprises. Most notably, Colette Rimbaud, who most political pundits predicted would be Aydindril’s next Prime Minister, and her wife, Sabine Munro Rimbaud, Ambassador to South Africa and one of the wealthiest women in the world. “Ms. Amnell,” said quite possibly the most self-assured voice Kahlan had ever heard in her life –– aside from her own. “Good luck with the trial.”

Kahlan stopped dead in her tracks. “Mrs. Rimbaud, it’s an honor to meet you,” Kahlan said, stretching out her arm to shake the other woman’s hand.

“Actually, we’ve already met,” Mrs. Rimbaud said with soft eyes and a sad smile. “You were only three so I’ll forgive the memory lapse.” Kahlan furrowed her brow, looking utterly confused. “I interned for your mother when I was in college, and on the eve of your sister’s birth I had the pleasure of babysitting you. You were quite a spirited child. I was particularly impressed with your recitation of one of your mother’s speeches.”

Kahlan tilted her head and chuckled a bit. “I had no idea,” she said.

“To this day, your mother is someone whom I respect and love dearly. All of Aydindril owes her a debt of gratitude –– my family in particular.” When she noticed Kahlan’s eyes beginning to water, she squeezed her shoulder and sat back down. “This is my wife, Sabine.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Amnell; my wife speaks of your mother often.”

Just then, Cara was led into the courtroom flanked by two officers. “Duty calls,” Kahlan said, taking several long strides to stand next to her client.

It struck her as odd that Rimbaud would attend the hearing but she reasoned that perhaps it was a political move. Kahlan swiftly sat next to Cara and opened her briefcase.

“All rise for Judge Samuel D. Hammett,” the bailiff said, as the judge entered the courtroom.

“We are here today,” the judge said, looking out at the gallery, “because the People have requested, under Rules of Civil Procedure 51.04 a Change of Venue from Inhabitants for Cause. In layman's terms, Mr. Cypher here,” he said gesturing with his hand at Mike Cypher, “is requesting that the trial of defendant Cara Mason be moved to a different jurisdiction. Please proceed, Mr. Cypher.”

“Your Honor, given the enormous media attention this case has garnered, the People have been left with no choice but to file a motion before the court for an immediate change of venue,” the prosecutor said, handing the bailiff a stack of papers outlining the reasons why the trial should be moved.

“Ms. Amnell, a pleasure to have you in my courtroom as always. I take it you don’t agree with your colleague’s request for a change of venue?” the judge said, folding his hands on the bench.

“I do not, Your Honor.”

“Very well, then. Mr. Cypher, please enlighten us as to why justice would be better served by moving Ms. Mason’s case to another jurisdiction.”

“Your Honor, the defense has reduced this case to nothing more than a PR campaign.”

“Objection, Your Honor, the defense cannot be held responsible for views expressed by the media. Unlike my colleague, I am not in the habit of delivering sound bites or partaking in lengthy interviews with media pundits.”

“Sustained,” the judge said, “I’m afraid those who live in glass houses would do well to refrain from throwing stones, Mr. Cypher. What else do you have for us?”

“Your Honor, one the victims in this case was a polarizing figure, who although never convicted of a crime, elicited a great deal of animosity from most of the citizens of Aydindril. If the trial were to proceed in Aydindril, we run the risk of trying the victims, instead of the accused. In addition to that, the defendant’s own safety could be at stake. Mr. Rahl, like him or not, did a lot of good for this community. There are those who may want to avenge his death. Very bad things could happen to Ms. Mason.”

Kahlan was on her feet immediately. “Was that a threat, Mr. Cypher? Because it certainly sounded like one.”

“Your Honor, I would nev ––”

“Approach the bench, both of you,” the judge barked, “Listen carefully, I don’t care if you two rip each other’s heads off, just don’t do it in my courtroom. Ms. Amnell, you spoke out of order; don’t do it again or I will hold you in contempt. Mr.Cypher, I don’t know that you intended it as such, but your remark did hint at a thinly veiled threat. If you ever make a statement like that in my court again, you’ll find yourself sitting in a jail cell for thirty days, or maybe even disbarred –– depending on my mood. Back to your tables, both of you,” the judge said.

“Mr. Cypher, do you have anything else you’d like to share with the court?”

“Yes, Your Honor. I would like to point out that the defendant in this case was a member of the Rahl family and deeply connected to his business. A strong possibility exists that trying this case in Aydindril could lead to violence. We could return to the days of gangland murders and turf wars. Is that really what we want for Aydindril?” he asked, addressing the gallery instead of the judge.

“Ms. Amnell, please proceed.”

“Your Honor, this case has indeed garnered a good deal of media attention, but it has been due to the civic-mindedness of the citizens of Aydindril. This case has inspired a spirited debate on topics ranging from organized crime to illegal adoptions. The people of Aydindril are intelligent and sober enough to discern sensationalism from facts. Furthermore, it’s important to note that the media attention has not been one-sided.”

“Your Honor,” the prosecutor said, rising to his feet, “there are billboards with the defendant’s likeness all over the city.”

“Objection, Your Honor. There is one billboard with the defendant’s likeness and its content does not relate directly to this case, nor does it mention the defendant by name. I’d call it nothing more than a stock photo of a child used to highlight the prevalence of child exploitation in all of the territories.”

“Sustained,” the judge said. “Had you not referenced the defendant’s photograph directly, it’s doubtful that anyone would have associated it with this case.”

“Your Honor,” Cypher said, slamming his fist on the desk, “How can I prosecute this case when a murderer is being depicted in media outlets as some sort of angelic child?”

“I suggest you control your temper, Mr. Cypher. If you need to cool off, I can arrange for the bailiff to escort you to one of our cooler cells. Request for a change of venue denied. Feel free to file an appeal if you disagree with my ruling.” With that, the judge banged his gavel and walked out of the courtroom.

Kahlan released a sigh of relief and squeezed Cara’s shoulders. “Those two women you were talking to,’ Cara said, as they were about to leave the courthouse, “they were looking at me funny. What’s the deal with them?”

Kahlan chuckled. “They’re lesbians and you’re gorgeous.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “No, it wasn’t that kind of look.”

“Trust me, it was that kind of look. Now let’s go home before the press starts stalking us.” She took hold of Cara’s forearm and headed toward the elevator.

“This isn’t over, Amnell,” Mike Cypher called to her just as the elevator doors closed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lets see, Cara and Kahlan get to take a walk together, Kahlan receives an unexpected dinner invitation, and our ladies get a bit flirty.

“Well, we dodged a bullet,” Kahlan said, as they walked to the car. “Keeping the trial in Aydindril is a big win.”

Cara shrugged. “I wasn’t worried.”

“Oh, really?” Kahlan asked with a lopsided smile on her face.

“My lawyer is a badass, she’s smart, and she’s hot. Why would I be worried?”

Kahlan had a big grin on her face, but it wasn’t just Cara’s flattery that put it there. The mere act of walking from the courthouse to the car with Cara in street clothes brought with it a sense of normalcy that made her feel hopeful and strangely safe. For a few minutes they were just two women taking a walk together –– a luxury they hadn’t experienced in far too long.

“Look,” Cara said just as they got in the car, “tulips!” Her eyes were opened wide and the look on her face was pure awe. After a moment, she tipped her head and said, “I never noticed that tulips look just like freedom. They’re not like other flowers; they’re abstract brush strokes, filled with endless potential, so simple yet utterly perfect.”

Kahlan looked at her for a long moment, hardly able to control the urge to buy her a truck full of tulips. “How do you do that? How are you able to elevate something that most people take for granted into something magical?” Cara shrugged in response. “You’re amazing,” Kahlan said, pulling into the parking garage. Cara shrugged off that remark, too.

“Oh, and I told you so,” Cara said, carefully taking off her blazer.

“What did you tell me?” Kahlan tilted her and waited for an answer.

“I told you that you’re as awesome as your mom,” Cara said. She kissed Kahlan on the temple and gave her a brief hug. Kahlan blushed, which earned her a chuckle from Cara.

“So who were those two women you were talking to? I still think they were giving me a weird look.”

Kahlan thought for a moment. “Let’s see,” Kahlan said, “The name Colette Rimbaud should ring a bell. Much like yourself, she’s been in the news quite a bit lately –– albeit for very different reasons. The odds makers are fairly certain she’s going to be the next Prime Minister. The other woman is her wife, Sabine Munro Rimbaud. She’s no slouch either. Her humanitarian work, some say, is likely to earn her a Nobel Peace Prize. Colette was my mother’s intern; she even babysat me once. She knows more about my mother than I do.” She slumped her shoulders and sat on the sofa with her legs hugged to her chest.

Cheering people up wasn’t exactly Cara’s forté; in fact, she was awful at it, but for Kahlan’s sake she was willing to try. “How about them Seahawks?” Cara said.

Kahlan gave her a quizzical look. “What’s a seahawk?”

Thankfully, Kahlan’s phone rang, sparing her the painful experience of having to explain football to Kahlan. “Oh, that’s very kind of you. Yes, of course, I’d love to.”

“What was that about?” Cara asked.

Kahlan’s thumb and index finger went to her chin. “I’m not sure,” she said. “The Rimbauds just invited me to their house for dinner.”

“Well,” Cara said at length, “You’re gorgeous; they're lesbians.” She delivered the remark with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

“Point taken,” she said, after delivering her best eye roll. “Maybe Colette just wants to reminisce about my mother. They seem to have been very close.”

“Ooh,” Cara said, “maybe she and your mother were ––”

“Or maybe you should get your mind out of the gutter and help me decide what to wear tomorrow night,” she said, giving Cara a shove for good measure.

“My Nirvana t-shirt is clean.”

“Yes, I suppose I could go to dinner at the home of the next Prime Minister wearing your Nirvana t-shirt and a pair of your boy shorts. Oh, and while I’m at it, why not wear your red panties –– on my head.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cara said.

“Here’s a better plan: let’s make dinner. I want to turn in early.”

“Tired?”

“No, but I don’t want to show up at the Rimbaud estate with bags under my eyes.”

***

The Rimbauds lived in a sprawling estate on the outskirts of Aydindril. It was a hilltop mansion with a breathtaking view, but on this clear night, the city lights could not compete with the beauty of the stars shining brightly in the sky. Kahlan felt a pang in her chest, wishing Cara were at her side to take it all in. Just as she drove up the hill, she caught a glimpse of the Stein mansion in the distance. She hadn’t realized that the Rimbauds and Shota were practically neighbors. It made sense, however, considering that they were among the handful of people who could afford to live in Aydindril’s most upscale neighborhood.

She took a deep breath to steel herself before ringing the doorbell. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about the Rimbauds that made her feel like a schoolgirl about to meet the headmistress. Perhaps it was the connection to her mother, or it may have been that she was in the presence of two formidable women, who by their late forties, had accomplished more than most of their contemporaries ever would.

“Ms. Amnell,” Colette Rimbaud said, greeting her with a broad grin, “come in, please.”

“Only if you’ll call me Kahlan,” she replied, without showing a trace of evidence of the butterflies doing somersaults in her belly.

“Agreed,” the other woman replied, “but I insist you call me Colette.”

With that, they walked into the house which, given the grandeur of the structure itself, was surprisingly unassuming. Kahlan was immediately taken by the copious amounts of artwork that hung on practically every wall. “Oh my,” she said, “These are breathtaking.”

“One of the members of the household is quite the budding artist –– and prolific as well. Two Picasso paintings and a Velazquez have been relegated to a hallway due to lack of wall-space.”

Kahlan tipped her head and said, “Given the size of this place, that’s quite an accomplishment.”

“We’ll give you the grand tour after dinner, if you’d like.”

“Yes, a tour would be wonderful.”

Moments later, Sabine Munro Rimbaud walked in, causing Kahlan to do a double take. She’d briefly glanced at her in the courtroom, and she’d seen pictures of Sabine in magazines, but seeing her at home without a drop of makeup on, wearing jeans and a loose-fitting blouse, Kahlan fully realized that her reputation as one of most beautiful women in the world had not been exaggerated. At six feet tall, she towered over Kahlan, who was used to being both the tallest and the most beautiful woman in the room. Sabine’s crystal-clear gray eyes combined with her elegant movements were practically hypnotic.

“This, Kahlan, is my better half, Sabine. The most beautiful and intelligent woman in the world.”

“Please excuse my wife, she’s prone to making such declarations,” she leaned in and kissed her wife’s temple. “Now let’s have dinner before our guest faints from hunger,” she said to her wife.

Dinner conversation ranged from art to politics, and eventually to Kahlan’s mother. It was Colette who brought up a particular touching anecdote that Kahlan vaguely remembered, but that she did not know had changed the course of history. “You know, Kahlan, my wife and I, along with many Midlanders, owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Is that so?” Kahlan wrinkled her nose and chuckled a bit.

“This is one of Colette’s favorite stories,” Sabine said, covering Kahlan’s hand with her own for a second.

“Well, now the suspense is killing me,” Kahlan said, wide-eyed and sitting on the edge of her seat.

“One morning –– you would have been five years old at the time –– your mother swooshed into the office, squeezed my shoulder, and asked if I was up for an all-nighter. Within seconds, all her aides and a couple of other interns were standing around her desk, curious as to what required such urgency. ‘My little girl informed me this morning that when she grows up, she wants to marry her best friend, Cara Mason. She’s not one to change her mind, so we have a bill to draft.’

“The entire office was buzzing with excitement. This was legislation that no politician in Aydindril had dared to bring before the Central Council. ‘Good legislation is concise,’ she said, ‘Let’s keep this under ten pages.’ After she said it, she squeezed my hand, and said, ‘I don’t have much time, Colette, I’m counting on you.’ We worked for forty-eight hours straight. But we did it, we wrote an ironclad bill that the Central Council dared not contest. That was the last time she came into the office.” All three of them were overcome with emotions.

Kahlan wiped away a few tears and took a deep breath. “Thank you very much for telling me that story. You have no idea how much I’ll treasure it.” She gave Colette a hug, and thanked her again.

Sabine took a long look at her and said, “I take it that it is not a coincidence that the other little girl in the story has the same name as the defendant in the murder case you’re working on.”

Kahlan gestured with her hands and shrugged. “I can’t discuss the case but I imagine the answer is self-evident.”

“I wish you both all of the best, really.”

Kahlan gave her a sad smile and a nod.

“May I ask how you two met?” Kahlan asked over coffee and dessert.

The question earned her a huge grin from both women. “I was fourteen when I laid eyes on her for the first time –– to call it love at first sight would be an understatement,” Colette said. “My father was the Midlands Ambassador to South Africa back then. I traveled with him often. He wanted me see the world, to understand how blessed we were and why it was our responsibility to give back as much as we could. On this particular trip, we traveled to Addis Ababa.

“We were visiting schools in various villages on the outskirts of the city and meeting with dignitaries. The Midlands had prepared an aid package for famine victims. The juxtaposition of the breathtaking beauty of the terrain and the devastating level of human suffering was dizzying. We walked through the crowds, their hands extended begging for food, malnourished children, mothers weeping for their sick babies. And yet they were heartbreakingly beautiful –– every last one of them. It was as if pure light were shining through their eyes –– their glowing skin rivaling the sun. I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since.

“When I first saw Sabine, I completely froze. She literally took my breath away, so much so that I felt lightheaded, as if I were about to faint. She must have noticed because she rushed to my side and took hold of my arm. All I could do was standing there staring at her with my mouth open; I’m sure she thought I was daft.”

“I thought no such thing. And you almost fainted because it was 120 degrees. You were beautiful and terribly sweet. Do you remember what you said to me?”

Colette rolled her eyes and laughed a little. “Of course I remember. It was something along the lines of, ‘wow, you’re like Elle McPherson and Iman rolled into one.’ To which you replied, ‘come, little girl, let’s get you some water.’

“Of course, I decided right then and there I was going to marry her someday. This all happened in the pre-email era so we became pen-pals,” she said, looking over at Kahlan. “We exchanged hundreds of letters. I kept every one of them,” she said, leaning in and kissing Sabine lightly on the lips.

“I was a scrawny fourteen-year-old with braces on my teeth and she was this six-foot-tall exotic nineteen-year-old beauty queen. When my father and I got home, I ran into my mother’s arms and said, and I quote, ‘Mother, I’m most desperately in love.’ My mother, the ultimate romantic, smiled and both her hands went to the center of her chest. ‘Tell me everything,’ she said, taking me by the hand and running upstairs to my parents’ bedroom. My father, the ultimate pragmatist, shook his head and sighed ––years later he cried like a baby when he walked me down the aisle.”

“Ah, yes but when you returned to Ethiopia a second time, you were no longer a swooning little girl. You were a beautiful, confident, and brilliant young woman. I still remember running to the post office multiple times a day in the hopes of finding a letter from my beautiful Colette.”

“It’s been nearly thirty years and I still have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

“Oh gosh,” Kahlan said, “you two are going to make me cry. I should probably say good night before I make a complete fool of myself.”

“Nonsense,” Sabine said, “but you do have a long drive ahead of you.”

With that, they said their goodbyes and Kahlan headed home with a sad smile on her face. The Rimbauds were exceedingly pleasant and the stories Colette shared about Abigail Amnell warmed Kahlan’s heart. Her mother’s reputation as a leader and her many achievements were not new to Kahlan, but learning that her mother turned the ramblings of her five-year-old into policy reminded her of what she loved most about her. Abigail Amnell listened to her, really listened her, just as she would have to a colleague or a friend. After she died, no one listened, not her father, not the teachers at her fancy boarding school. It was a lonely life for both her and her sister.

***

“So what’s the story?” Cara asked as soon as Kahlan walked in the door.

“Well, they are lovely people. Colette shared some wonderful stories about my mother that had me on the verge of tears. Oh, and they told me the story of how they met –– so romantic. How on earth does a young girl from Aydindril end up falling in love and eventually marrying an Ethiopian beauty queen and political activist?

“I wish you would have been there. They have the most amazing art collection.”

Cara eyed her suspiciously for a couple of seconds. “So what are you not telling me?”

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “I hate that you know me so well.”

“Learn to live with it,” she said, “now spill it.”

“Fine. Don’t misunderstand, they really are lovely, but all the while I felt as if I was being sized up for something. Sabine has this gentle gaze that makes you feel as if she can read your mind, and Colette is one of those keenly intelligent people who knows what you’re thinking before you even think it.”

Cara chuckled. “So being confronted with your own superpowers made you nervous.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t do that.”

“Yeah, you do,” Cara said, nodding her head repeatedly.

“I don’t know why people think that about me.” Kahlan said in a huff.

“Hm, maybe because it’s true?” That earned her a shove from Kahlan.

“Seriously, I can’t help but feel that this wasn’t some random dinner invitation. They have some sort of agenda but I can’t imagine what it is.”

What Kahlan didn’t tell Cara was how much she wished that would have been their story, that the two of them were married, living in a house full of artwork –– Cara’s artwork –– on every wall. But Darken destroyed all those dreams, and even beyond the grave he was still trying to destroy Cara.

Long after Cara had called it a night, Kahlan sat at her desk, imagining a life that never was. She then meticulously organized the clutter on her desk into neat stacks of paper, sharpened every pencil she owned, cleaned her computer screen, and took a deep breath, sitting back on her chair wishing it were just as easy to bring order into her life. “Everything in its proper place,” she said. “But what’s your place in my life, baby?” With that, she shook her head a couple of times and got into bed.

***

With the hearing behind them, the focus shifted to the reality of the upcoming trial. Richard, Kahlan was certain, would be the first person Mike would call to the stand. Much of this case was about sibling rivalry and ancient grudges. Kahlan was banking on Mike losing his cool when confronted with a well-prepared Richard. Her job was simply to stay out of the way, allowing Richard to be, well, Richard –– the insanely likable guy with the brown puppy eyes and the earnest smile. Richard’s superpower was his ability to connect with people by speaking directly to their hearts. Mike subpoenaed Richard for the sake of trying to humiliate him, and because he wanted to implicate Cara in the accident. It was a mistake that Kahlan believed would alienate jurors and take the focus off the mountain of evidence against Cara.

What Kahlan still didn’t understand was why Mike wanted Denna on the stand. The only possible explanation was that Denna knew something –– maybe something that she didn’t know she knew –– that Cypher viewed as a smoking gun. This late in the game she could not risk being accused of witness tampering so all she could do was hope that Denna would hold her own. Denna, in a way, also had a secret weapon on her side: Shota. If Mike had any sort of political ambitions –– which he did –– getting on Shota’s bad side would cost him dearly. Shota was still one of the most well-connected people in Aydindril, and a political donor without whose support few politicians in Aydindril could possibly win an election. One word from her could very well send Mike back to the lowly public defender’s office. If Kahlan learned anything from her visit to the Stein mansion, it was that Shota and Denna were a team. She had no doubt that they would present a united front. In fact, she was hoping they would make grand entrance into the courtroom that would have heads turning. Cypher would most certainly measure his choice of words if Shota stared him down with those piercing eyes.

The other possibility was that Denna and Cara had more skeletons in the closet. Kahlan decided to broach the subject carefully. She already knew that Cara was willing to go to prison for the sake of keeping one secret; there was no telling how she’d react if Kahlan pressured her to reveal another one.

It was a lazy Sunday morning and Cara was still in bed so Kahlan made the coffee, carefully opened the door to Cara’s room, and with the intention of implementing her secret weapon, she placed both cups on the night table and slipped under the covers; Cara stirred a bit and snuggled closer. Kahlan then hummed softly into Cara’s ear and rubbed circles on her belly. That move, Kahlan knew, practically put Cara into a trance. She soon started to hum along, releasing little sounds of pleasure, with her eyes closed and a content smile.

“Good morning, baby,” she said as Cara’s eyes fluttered open. “I made coffee.”

Just as she predicted, Cara was perfectly relaxed. “Thank you,” she said, and after a long pause, added, “but it’s not going to work.”

Kahlan sat up on the bed with her brow furrowed. “What’ is not going to work?”

“You trying to butter me up with the humming and the belly rubbing. You’ve been pulling that move on me since we were kids.”

Kahlan sighed. “Maybe I’m just being nice. Did that ever occur to you?” she asked, in a huff.

“Yeah, because I haven’t known you my whole life. Now spit it out. What do you want?”

Kahlan frowned. “I liked you better when you were five.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not that easily coerced anymore. I’m a big girl now; other parts of my anatomy take priority these days.”

“Really?” Kahlan said in a low, raspy voice. “Where exactly would you like me to rub?” She lay back down on the bed and pulled Cara closer.

Cara licked her lips and gazed into Kahlan’s eyes for a long moment. “I don’t know. Maybe your narc girlfriend can make some suggestions. Now why don’t you tell me what you want, Kahlan?”

Kahlan shook her head and pulled away from her. “I want lots of things, not the least of which is keeping you out of prison. To that end, it would be helpful to know if I’m in for any surprises –– way to kill the mood, by the way.”

Cara released a derisive chuckle. “Ask me anything.”

“Are you and Denna hiding anything else? There’s a reason why Mike wants her on the stand, Cara. I’d rather hear it from you than being blindsided by Mike.”

“Look, I never killed anyone, if that’s what you’re asking. I lived in the house for almost twenty years, for eight of those years Denna lived there, too. We both did what we had to do to survive. Did she do things I don’t know about? Probably. I already told you, Denna’s a survivor. There’s no telling what Mike has on her, or thinks he has on her.” She thought for a moment, then added. “One thing’s for sure, if she has to bury me to save her own neck, she’ll do it. But I don’t think she’d feed me to the lions for sport.”

“Well, at this point, there’s nothing I can do. Maxine may be able to dig something up, but I can’t go anywhere near Denna. The last thing I need is to be accused of witness tampering.”

“And?” Cara asked, as she got out of bed. She was wearing red panties and a white tank top –– both of which left nothing to the imagination.

It took Kahlan a moment to stop staring. “And what?” she finally asked.

“And you owe me an apology for trying to manipulate me into revealing some nonexistent secret.”

Kahlan smiled and propped herself up on her elbow –– which gave Cara a stellar view of Kahlan’s cleavage. “I hope you can forgive me for being such an awful person. Is there anything at all I can do to make it up to you?”

Cara eyes veered down to Kahlan’s cleavage and stayed there. After several seconds –– and without looking up –– she said, “Waffles.” She turned around and walked into the shower.

“I’m the one who needs a shower,” she said under her breath. “A really cold one.” Realizing she’d completely fallen off the strictly-professional-wagon –– again — she hung her head, walked into the kitchen, and made Cara waffles. When she was done, she grabbed one of her yellow pads and made a list of all the things she appreciated about Sabrina. Her plan was to read it throughout the day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> his chapter involves topless consumption of pizza, IT nerdiness (not a real word, I don't think), a pretty dress, and a mysterious phone call. And lots of other stuff too.

With Kahlan still sound asleep, Cara had little to do other than stare out the window. She liked that Kahlan was sleeping in for a change rather than diving head first into the sea of notes and legal briefs that, once again, cluttered her desk. The thought of it made her smile; not because she approved of the mess –– she didn’t –– but because it was pure Kahlan. Even when they were children, Cara could never quite understand how her best friend got any of her schoolwork done. Every morning, she’d dutifully organized Kahlan’s book bag, and sorted all her assignments based on when they were due, yet by the end of the school day chaos, once again, reigned supreme. Cara would scratch her head wondering how such a thing was possible and then she’d busy herself restoring order.

There were so many memories that constantly came up, especially in this apartment ––the place in which they’d made love for the first time. There was always a sense of urgency back then, a desperation of sorts brought about by Cara’s circumstance, and by their dogged determination to be together, no matter the consequences. Part of it was the intensity of first love, but it was also because all they had left was each other. Letting go had never been an option, not until Darken threatened Kahlan’s life. That was what finally broke Cara. She’d lived her entire life up until then for a single dream, and that dream was Kahlan. Nothing mattered after that, nothing at all.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Kahlan asked, pressing the front of her body to Cara’s back and resting her chin on her shoulder. Cara didn’t answer, she just leaned back and rested her weight on Kahlan’s body, still lost in those memories that for years she’d tried to bury. Without giving it a second thought, Kahlan encircled Cara’s waist and closed her eyes. It surprised her that for once Cara let her guard down, but rather than question it, she decided to enjoy it. Whatever was happening between them at that moment felt like peace –– and maybe even happiness.

Kahlan released a frustrated sigh the moment her phone rang, and she felt Cara pull away. The feeling, whatever it may have been, was short-lived. She picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID. “I have to get this,” she said to Cara, “it’s Maxine; it could be important.”

Kahlan sat up as she took the call, listening intently to the latest news from the private investigator. “Okay,” she said, “please be careful.”

“What’s going on?” Cara asked.

“Maxine called to let me know she was meeting with a systems engineer –– Rahl’s former systems engineer.”

“That’s a good thing,” Cara said, “Unless she gets herself killed. If this IT guy worked for Darken, you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s a bad guy.”

“Never underestimate what a pretty teenage girl does to the brain of a nerd.”

“Good point,” Cara said, and walked into the bathroom.

“I’ll get breakfast started,” she called out to Cara.

***

In the meantime, Maxine found out that the IT guy’s idea of wooing was bragging about his tech skills, which included the nifty encryption algorithm he’d implemented for his former employer. “For your own safety, I’m not going to tell you the name of the guy I used to work for, but if I showed you a network diagram of his setup it would totally blow your mind.”

Maxine nodded and smiled. “I’m sure it would. The project I’m working on is going nowhere fast. I’m kind of stuck on finding a way to separate the voice and data network so that I can monitor the network traffic without compromising network security.”

He gave her a smug smile and leaned back on his chair. “Routing is key,” he said, “build separate tunnels, mask the IPs, and crisscross the traffic. Come up with a kick-ass encryption algorithm and you’re golden.”

Maxine rolled her eyes. “Easier said than done. I’m stuck on setting up the firewalls without slowing down the speed at which the data reaches the servers. And besides, I also have to contend with a surveillance system. Anyway, I should probably get going,” she said, and started to get up.

“Wait,” he said, and in a desperate attempt at keeping her there, he reached into his bag and pulled out an external drive, swiftly plugging it into his laptop. “I’ll show you the diagram for my old boss’s network.”

As soon as he pulled up the file, Maxine went into a coughing fit. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I’ll get you some water.”

By the time he got back with the water, she’d copied the entire contents of his drive. “Thunderbolt beats USB, dude,” she said under her breath with a sly smile on her face.

Within seconds, she sent Kahlan a message. DD bozz lady. Let’s hang 2morrow @10@AU.

***

“Cara,” Kahlan called out from the kitchen. “Maxine came through. I’m meeting her at Aydindril U tomorrow morning.”

Cara ran out of the bathroom dripping wet –– and completely naked. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

She furrowed her brow and gestured with her hands before finally saying something. “You, you’re, you’re naked.” She tried to look at anything that wasn’t Cara but her eyeballs weren’t having it.

Cara’s hands went to her hips. “You bellowed like a crazy person. I thought something happened.”

Kahlan sighed. “I didn’t bellow, I just called out to you.”

“No, you definitely bellowed.”

“I––did––not––bellow,” she said at length.

“Fine, whatever you say. Why did you ‘call out to me’?” she asked –– complete with air quotes.

Kahlan wrinkled her nose and thought for a moment. “I…I forget.”

“Seriously?” Cara tipped her head, put her hands on hips, and waited, all the while tapping her foot on the floor.

“Wait,” Kahlan said, “it’ll come to me. It’s hard to think when you’re standing there like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like that.” She waved her hands several times.

“Fine, is this better?” Cara asked as she plunked down on the sofa –– in a less than ladylike position.

Kahlan’s palm went to her forehead. “Why would that be any better?”

“I don’t know. You told me to sit down.”

“I did not.”

“Well, you told me not to stand so I sat down –– unless you expected me to levitate. Sorry but I haven’t gotten to that part of the Yoga Sutras yet.”

“Oh, for Spirits’ sake. Do I have to spell it out for you? Y-o-u a-r-e n-a-k-e-d.”

“I don’t usually shower with my clothes on.”

Kahlan lifted both her palms. “Cara, please, for the sake of my mental health, cover up.” Cara shrugged, got off the sofa, and sashayed into her bedroom with a big grin on her face. She’d always counted making Kahlan squirm as one of life’s greatest pleasures. Kahlan stared at Cara’s swaying, naked hips as she walked into the bedroom. She had no doubt that Cara would be the death of her. “That ass is a masterpiece,” she mumbled, shaking her head.

By the time Cara was dressed –– if panties and a t-shirt qualified as being dressed –– Kahlan recalled her conversation with Maxine and shared the news with Cara. “I’m meeting her at AU tomorrow at ten,” she said as she looked through some papers. “This could be the break we’ve been hoping for.”

An email from the clerk she was friendly with quickly changed the mood. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Kahlan said, throwing her arms up in frustration. Dennee Amnell had been added to the prosecution’s witness list, and what’s more, she’d filed a civil lawsuit against Cara for the wrongful death of her unborn son.

“She hates me,” Cara said with a shrug.

“If war is what my little sister wants, war is what she’ll get. This sick vendetta has to end –– for all our sakes.” Cara didn’t say a word. She’d seen that look on Kahlan’s face several times over the years. All she could do could was stay out of her way. By the end of the day, Kahlan had subpoenaed Dennee’s medical records, filed a countersuit for defamation, requested the police files associated with the accident, and scheduled an interview with the police officer on the scene. Kahlan meant business; there was no doubt about it.

Kahlan reasoned that cross-examining Dennee was either going to help her sister accept the truth of what happened, or sever their relationship permanently; she was willing to accept either outcome. This was about Cara’s life, not about her sister’s irrational hatred toward her. But for Kahlan it was also about something else. It was about the Masons, who took them in when their own father all but abandoned them; it was about Grace who looked after baby Dennee as if she were her own sister; and most of all it was about Abigail Amnell, who, on the day she was diagnosed with a terminal illness, turned to the Masons and asked them to look after her girls. “For as long as I’m breathing,” Mr. Mason said, “I’ll love and protect your girls as I do my own.” Mrs. Mason wrapped her arms around Abigail and held her there for a long time.

Kahlan was only five years old and she didn’t really understand what it all meant but she did know that her mommy had been very tired lately, and that she was thinner than usual, and that the light in her eyes was gone. Sometimes, when she thought Kahlan wasn’t looking, she’d quietly sob into her pillow. Dennee was too young to remember any of it, but Kahlan remembered all of it; she’d watched the life force slowly leave her mother’s body. On the day of her funeral, she and Cara held hands while Mrs. Mason walked behind them with baby Dennee on her hip. Mr. Mason, who served as a pallbearer, held his head high as a tidal wave of tears left his eyes. The Masons were family, as far as Kahlan was concerned; Dennee had chosen to turn her back on family.

“I’m going for a drive,” Kahlan said. “I need to clear my head. I might do a bit of shopping as well.”

“Pick up a gallon of Cherry Garcia.”

Kahlan turned around and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said, “that request is the only thing that’s made me smile today.”

“Props to Ben & Jerry,” Cara said with a shrug.

Kahlan came back a few hours later carrying at least a half dozen bags. “Retail therapy,” she said with a shrug when she noticed the look Cara was giving her. She reached into one of the bags and tossed Cara the ice cream. She then laid out the various items of clothing she’d purchased –– a couple of which were for Cara.

“Pajamas and a robe,” she said, holding the items up for Cara’s inspection. “I got them for you.”

Cara wrinkled her nose and scratched her head. “What, no granny panties?”

“There’s something to be said for modesty. I also got you another court outfit.”

“What’s in those three over there?” Cara asked, eyeing a big box with the initials CH on it, and two smaller ones.

“A dress in the big one, shoes in that one, and personal items in the small one.”

Cara pursed her lips and nodded. “So basically, you’ll be rocking a Carolina Herrera dress, $300 shoes, and sexy lingerie while I chill in flannel pajamas.”

“I have a function to attend in a few days,” Kahlan said in what sounded every bit like an apology.

“A function,” Cara echoed, nodding her head. “Would this function happen to involve you partying in a room full of narcs –– one who happens to have your number on speed dial?” Kahlan narrowed her eyes and glared at her, but didn’t say anything. “Here,” Cara said, “why don’t we hang out on the sofa with one of your yellow legal pads and write a list of all the ways in which it sucks to be me.” She then lay back and covered her face with a cushion. “I’ll model my pajamas for you, if you’d like.”

Kahlan rolled her eyes, and disappeared behind the bathroom door. Having put together an outfit for her date with Sabrina was a relief, but it also filled her with dread and guilt and no small amount of confusion. She’d built this date up in her mind as some monumental event that was going to magically make her get over Cara, fall madly in love with Sabrina, and erase all the heartaches of the past. From her perspective, it would either be the best night of her life, or irrefutable proof that she was destined to spend the rest of her life alone. “When did I become such a drama queen?” she asked herself aloud, before dunking her head under the mess of bubbles in her tub.

Cara knocked on the door. “You’re going to turn into a gigantic raisin if you don’t get out of the tub. Besides, dinner is ready.”

“Good, I’m starving.”

***

Kahlan looked down at her plate then up at Cara. “That thing is dinner?”

“It complements my new flannel pajamas.” She got off her chair, and spun around a couple of times before sitting down again.

“What is it exactly?” Kahlan asked.

“Spam. Us flannel-types eat it all the time.”

Kahlan grimaced and sighed, then raised the fork to her nose. “Are you sure it’s meant for human consumption? I dated a girl with a dog once. I’m fairly certain that’s what its food looked like.”

Cara crossed her arms and waited for Kahlan to take a bite. After steeling her resolve for almost a minute, she brought the fork to her lips, and twice, she opened her mouth but could not bring herself to actually put it in her mouth. “Fine,” she said, putting down her fork, “be as naked as you’d like. Here, I’ll help you.” She walked around the table and unbuttoned Cara’s pajama top. “Flaunt your naked glory. Just don’t make me eat dog food.” With that, she picked up her phone and ordered pizza.

When the pizza arrived, they curled up on the sofa watching TV while they ate. “This is my first ever pornographic pizza experience –– and by the look on his face, the delivery guy’s, too,” she said to a topless Cara, who shrugged in response. Truth be told, she loved the feel of Cara’s bare skin pressed to hers; and the way Cara fit so perfectly in her arms made her want to stay like that forever. Just as she was losing herself in those thoughts, she abruptly got up. “I have to take care of something.”

She walked into her bedroom, closed the door, and reread her list of all the things she appreciated about Sabrina, but as hard as she tried, none of those things felt as good as holding Cara in her arms. “It’s okay,” she said to Ragadee who was on the bed, “I’ll just have to make a longer list tomorrow.”

“What did I miss?” she asked, as she curled back into Cara’s naked torso.

“Three commercials and a PSA.” Cara pressed her nose to Kahlan’s hair. “You smell good.” That earned her a smile and a series of kisses on her neck. Cara closed her eyes and enjoyed the attention. Kahlan sighed and rested her head on Cara’s lap. She was never going to get over Cara and maybe she didn’t even want to get over her, but she would definitely try again tomorrow.

***

“Hey, boss lady, how’s it going?” The young PI had arrived at 10:00AM sharp with a cup of coffee that she promptly handed to Kahlan.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” she said after taking a sip of the coffee. “Thank you.”

Maxine started to whip out her laptop and her external hard drive, but Kahlan’s raised palm stopped it. “Rules of evidence,” Kahlan said.

“Right,” Maxine said. “I’ve received a good amount of potential evidence from an anonymous source. Due to the quantity and state of said evidence, it will take time to sort it out in order to discern its usefulness and authenticity.”

“I see,” Kahlan said. “Very well put.”

“Also, the IT guy wants to be my boyfriend.”

“Is he cute?” Kahlan asked helpfully, as she sipped more of the coffee.

“A world of no,” she replied with a cringe. “Besides, I prefer creative-types.”

“Yeah, I totally empathize,” Kahlan said, punctuating the statement with a resigned sigh.

“Anyway, we are looking at about ten terabytes worth of files. A lot of it looks to be feeds from archived surveillance videos, the rest in random files. Most of them are encrypted but it should be fairly easy to crack them. I’ll be honest, it’ll take forever to sift through all of it.”

Kahlan thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s time for some teamwork.” She jotted down her address and handed it to Maxine. “Be at my place tomorrow morning. I’ll draft another volunteer.”

***

Having been tasked with the responsibly of preparing breakfast for the makeshift IT crew, Cara got up extra early and headed straight for the kitchen. She mixed, and whisked, and scrambled to her heart’s content. But before she could finish, the smell of pancakes and fresh coffee roused Kahlan from sound sleep.

“Morning, baby.” She released a gigantic yawn, stretched her arms over her head, and reached for the coffee. That’s when she noticed that Cara was wearing her new flannel pajamas –– sans the top. “Oh for pity’s sake.” She threw her arms up in frustration and shook her head. “Please put a shirt on.”

“I’ll change once I finish cooking.”

“What if you burn a nipple, or some other significant body part? Here, just wrap this around you.”

“A dish rag? That’s gross.”

“You know what, I’m going to go shower. You can do anything you want –– I’m sure Zedd will love your boobs.”

“Gross, gross, gross.” Cara made a series of faces and shuddered.

By the time Kahlan got out of the shower, Cara had breakfast on the table, and she had put on a t-shirt –– albeit not a bra. Seconds later the doorbell rang.

“Come in, please,” Kahlan said to Maxine.

“Nice to meet you, Kalinda.” That earned Cara an elbow to her ribcage courtesy of Kahlan.

“Pay no attention to her; she has no life so all she does is watch TV all day so she’s cast you in the roll of this Kalinda person.”

Maxine, however, didn’t register a single word of the exchange. She was too busy staring at Cara. Her lips were slightly parted and her eyes as wide as coins. “Give me a second,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “Sorry about that, I…it’s nothing. Good to meet you, too.” She stretched out her hand to shake Cara’s.

“You can plug in your laptop over here,” Kahlan said.

“Is she related to those women you had dinner with? Because Kalinda gave me the exact same look they did in the courthouse,” she said to Kahlan under her breath.

“No, of course not.”

Moments later the doorbell rang again. “I’ll get it,” Kahlan said, walking toward the door. “It must be Zedd.”

“Kahlan, child, good to see you.”

Kahlan and Cara glanced at each other for a moment. “What the hell are you wearing, old man?”

“Why, my robe, of course. Comfortable attire helps me be more productive. Besides, I’m not accustomed to these unusual hours.”

“Ten o’clock in the morning is an unusual hour?” Kahlan chimed in.

“Whatever, old man, but please tell me you’ve got your skivvies on. Otherwise you might traumatize the kid.”

Once Zedd caught a glimpse of the food table, all bets were off. For every time he clicked on the computer keyboard, he spent five minutes eating. Kahlan looked over at Cara and shrugged. He had been instrumental in removing the trigger in Cara’s head so all was forgiven. Zedd stuffed himself until he could barely move, while Maxine, Kahlan, and Cara transferred the data into various drives based on what type of files they were and sorted them by date.

“Okay, now that we’ve got the data sorted, the best way to work this is searching all the text files for specific keywords that could be relevant to the case. Stuff like ‘gun’, ‘kill’, etc.

“Kahlan, you’d be the most qualified to suggest relevant terms. List as many as you can manage. Once I get the files decrypted, we’ll run them through various sorting filters.”

Maxine decided to put on her headphones and listen to music while working on decrypting the files. She actually had what appeared to be an infinite amount of decryption software preloaded onto her laptop. “It’s just a question of finding the right one,” she told them.

After about five hours, she pumped her fist and said, “Bingo!”

Cara and Kahlan dropped what they were doing and rushed to her side. “Did you do it?” Kahlan asked, eyes dancing with excitement. Maxine nodded and plunked down on the sofa.

“High five, Kalinda,” Cara said raising her palm, which was quickly met by Maxine’s. “What’s next?”

“Well, I add Kahlan’s list of words into my computer and let it run. It’ll take a few hours since there’re so many files.”

Zedd, claiming he had an appointment with a lady friend, was the first to leave. “Well, I think we got a lot done,” Kahlan said, “even if Zedd did spend most of the day eating.”

Maxine, who had hardly taken her eyes off Cara the entire day, nodded in agreement. “We did,” she said. “And I have an idea as to how to go through the footage much faster.”

“What do you have in mind?” Kahlan asked.

“I’m working on a high speed facial recognition app with a professor at AU. It’s still in beta but I think it’ll help.”

“That sounds great,” Kahlan said, giving Maxine’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now, I want you to relax. You’re staying for dinner.” She then disappeared into the kitchen leaving Cara and Maxine sitting awkwardly on the sofa.

“So let’s get this out of the way,” Cara said, after several minutes without a word passing between them. “I’m not a crazed killer; you don’t have to watch me like a hawk.”

“Sorry, I’m just thinking,” she said. “Did you draw these?” she asked, picking up one of the sketches on the coffee table. Cara nodded in response –– fully aware of Maxine’s abrupt change of subject. “Wow, you’ve got mad skills. They’re amazing.”

“Cara’s life’s dream was to be an artist,” Kahlan said, as she ushered Cara and Maxine to the dinner table.

“I drew them to help with the memory loss. Funny, I hadn’t done anything remotely creative in years. I guess it stays with you forever.” Kahlan ran her hand down Cara’s arm and tucked a stray lock behind her ear. Maxine studied their interactions during dinner with interest.

“I should probably get going,” she said. “It was good to meet you. I really hope I can help you get out of this mess.”

“I hope so, too,” Cara said. “It was good to finally meet you.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Kahlan said to Maxine.

“So, you’re like totally in love with her,” Maxine said as soon as the elevator doors closed.

“Maxine!” Kahlan said, covering her face with her hands.

“What? Was I not supposed to say that? I mean it’s kind of sweet and, well, obvious.”

Kahlan shook her head with a sad smile on her face. “It’s complicated, and besides, I’m seeing someone else,” she said as Maxine got in her car. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Drive home safely.”

On the elevator ride back to the apartment, it occurred to Kahlan that everyone could probably tell that she was still hung up on Cara. But hearing Maxine just blurt it out like that felt as if there were flashing neon signs across the entire planet that said, Kahlan is still in love with Cara and she always will be. It annoyed her a little, but she saw no point in trying to deny it –– especially to herself. “Moving on,” she said, with as much resolve as she could muster –– which wasn’t very much at all.

“So what did you think of Maxine?” Kahlan asked Cara. They were in the kitchen doing the dishes in as domestic a scene as Kahlan had ever conceived of.

Cara pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “I can’t decide. I mean, she definitely seems to know what she’s doing but I can’t help but feel that something else is going on.”

“Say the word, and I’ll find someone else.”

Cara put away the last of the dishes and sat back on the sofa with her hands interlaced behind her head. “No, it’s not that I don’t trust her. This may sound weird but I feel like she cares, you know, a lot. But I don’t get why.”

“She lost her parents at a young age. And she did mention that had it not been for her grandmother, she could have ended up in a bad situation, too. Maybe it’s just empathy. She’s certainly very attuned to other people’s feelings.”

***

“Hey,” Maxine said to the person on the other end of the call. “I just left. It went well. I was a little freaked out when I first saw her, but I kept it together. Mm, what was she like…? To start with, she’s gorgeous, and she’s smart. You know, the type of person who notices things, who takes in details. There’s no way she suspected anything, though. The lawyer trusts me so it’s a nonissue. I know, I know. We just have to stick with the plan. But I’ll tell you one thing; she’s definitely not a murderer. Because I do this for a living, you dork, of course I’m sure. What else…she tries to hide it but at times she gets this sad look in her face, all melancholy like. It makes sense; she’s had a rough life but we can’t worry about that. Yeah, okay. Oh, oh and she’s crazy talented. I saw a couple of sketches she drew; I swear they pretty much belonged in a museum. Yep. Okay, I will. My battery’s dying. I’ll call you when I get home.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is jam packed with revelations. I'm talking surprises, secrets revealed, a geography lesson, Kahlan's big date with Sabrina, and more.

After releasing a gigantic yawn, Kahlan sat on the sofa next to Cara. “Aren’t you going to bed? It’s been a long day.”

“Not yet, I…not yet.”

“Is everything all right?” She ran her fingers through Cara’s hair and caressed her cheek with the back of her hand.

Cara shrugged. “There’s a lot going on –– too much maybe. I just want it to be over already. Combing over all the footage, the trial, the press; I wish it would all stop. Even if it means ending up in prison. I just wish it would all stop.” 

Kahlan looked at her with her brow furrowed for a long moment, which earned her an eye roll from Cara. “You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“Probing my mind to uncover my deepest secrets, or whatever.”

Kahlan tipped her head and parted her lips. “It’s the surveillance footage; it’s upsetting you.”

Cara sighed. “Yes, Amazing Kreskin, it’s upsetting me, only for me it’s not just footage, it’s my life, all of it, right there in those hard drives. Me as a little kid, me getting my ass kicked by Darken, me doing fucked up things that I didn’t want to do –– and that I certainly never wanted you to know I did.” She got up and walked over to the window. “Kahlan, I’m damaged goods. I’ll never be able to live a normal life, to feel things that regular people feel. I don’t want to sit in that courtroom listening to people dissect my life. And besides, for all I know, I did kill Darken and those other two guys.”

Kahlan didn’t move from her spot on the sofa. “Are you finished?” she asked once Cara stopped talking. “If you are, come sit here with me.” After a long moment, Cara hung her head and walked across the room to sit next to Kahlan again. “That footage is the past. Your life is here, right now, in the present. I’m not going to lie to you, the trial will be difficult, and there will be plenty of things that neither of us wants to relive, but we don’t have a choice. I am going to get you acquitted, Cara, and when I do, I’m going to make certain that everyone who had a hand in what happened to you is held accountable. Then, you and I are going to work together so that nothing like this happens to any other child in Aydindril. If you are willing to stay strong, maybe something good can come out of this. Demmin Nass is already behind bars; that alone is a huge accomplishment.”

Cara rested her elbows on her knees and, without looking up, said, “Go to bed.” Kahlan nodded and kissed her on the cheek. She’d known Cara for most of her life. Even as a little girl, she needed to work things out on her own. While Kahlan wanted nothing more than to hold her and make her feel safe and loved, she rose and disappeared behind the bedroom door, leaving Cara to work out her emotions. Late into the night, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and covered Cara with a blanket. “I love you so very much,” she said, closing her eyes for a moment before going back to bed.

***

“I like what you said.”

After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kahlan stretched her arms above her head, and asked, “I said something?” 

“Last night, that thing you said about keeping stuff from happening to other kids. We should do that.” Kahlan smiled, and nodded. Cara had worked things out, just as Kahlan knew she would. “If we’re going to do that, you’re going to have to kick Cypher’s ass in court.”

“Oh, I plan on doing just that, trust me.”

Cara pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “And maybe I’ll have to step up, too.”

“Step up, how?” Kahlan asked before taking a sip of her coffee; Cara didn’t answer. Kahlan put her mug down on the kitchen counter. “Cara, talk to me. Step up, how? Are you keeping something from me because if you are ––”

“I’m not,” Cara said, “I just need to think.”

Kahlan sighed; she didn’t like this one bit. “Baby, I suggest you share your thoughts with me, right now. Otherwise you may put me in an impossible position. I’m a trial lawyer, Cara; surprises are my least favorite thing in the world.” She waited for Cara to say something –– anything –– but she didn’t. Kahlan scowled and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

“Temper, temper,” Cara said with a chuckle.

“I heard that,” said Kahlan, from behind the closed door. Cara smirked and busied herself setting the table for breakfast.

Just as they finished breakfast, the doorbell rang. “Thank you,” Kahlan said to the postman after signing for various pieces of mail, and tossing the rest of them on her desk. One bore the seal of San Marino –– a country she’d never heard of before.

“Cara,” she called out, “come look at this. Have you ever heard of this place?”

Cara smugly crossed her arms and said, “Why, yes, I have. San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world. It has a land mass of 23.63 square miles and a population of approximately 30,000 people. The official language is Italian, but Spanish is also widely spoken, and their currency is the euro.”

Kahlan’s eyes widened and she scratched her head. “And you know this because?”

“Clearly, because I’m a genius.” Kahlan tipped her head and waited for a more plausible reply. “Fine,” Cara finally said, “I have no life, so while you’re working I play Trivial Pursuit on your iPad.”

“That explains why my iPad’s gone missing.”

Cara gave an apologetic shrug. “It’s all part of my master plan. By the time the trial is over, my brain’ll be stuffed with all the useless information I need to become Jeopardy champion. I’ll use part of my winnings to buy you a new iPad, of course.” 

“Whatever you say, baby. Now be quiet so I can figure out what this letter is about. Actually, no, it can wait,” she said, plunking it down on top of the impossibly large pile of mail she already had on her desk.

Cara frowned. “Do you like ever read your mail, clutter queen?”

Kahlan rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yes, of course I do, but it’s not a priority when I’m trying to keep someone I care about out of prison.”

“Fine,” Cara said, “but by the time the trial is over, you’re going to have to buy an industrial-sized shredder to get rid of this mess.”

“If that’ll put an end to your nagging, I will.” Before Cara could say anything, Kahlan kissed her on the nose and then on the lips. “You really do have the softest lips.”

“Yeah, and I have a nice ass, too. And for the record, I don’t nag.”

“We can debate that claim later but right now I have to go over my sister’s medical records.” She plunked down on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I just said that. I am so angry at her, I can hardly stand it. This is all so unnecessary.”

Cara sat next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “Maybe it’s like you said, maybe putting Dennee on the stand will fix things between the two of you.” Cara didn’t believe a word of what she was saying, but it seemed to make Kahlan feel better so she kept going. “I mean, your sister never had much use for me but she sure as hell loves you. Having to open up about the accident and listening to Richard’s testimony will probably sort it all out.”

Kahlan rested her head on Cara’s shoulder and rubbed her nose on her earlobe. “You don’t believe a single word of that little speech, do you?” 

Cara considered going the righteous indignation route but decided to fess up instead. “The Richard thing could work. Knowing him, he’ll turn on the waterworks and get all dramatic about how I performed CPR on Dennee when her heart stopped. And he’ll go into that whole jazz about me saving his life, and about how I was the one who pulled them both out of the car before it exploded.”

Kahlan furrowed her brow. “Wait, what? Cara, none of that was in the police report. Why didn’t you say anything? I have to subpoena the officer’s dash cam, and get surveillance feeds from nearby businesses. I can’t believe this is the first I’m hearing of this.” 

“It’s been almost six years. They probably recorded over it by now,” Cara said. “It doesn’t change the fact that if I would have stayed away, that kid would be alive.”

“Baby, it was an accident. You blaming yourself –– even after saving Dennee and Richard’s lives –– is insane. You’re a hero, Cara, not the villain you make yourself out to be.” She rose to her feet and pursed her lips for a moment. “There’s a bank down the street from where the accident happened. I’m sure they keep surveillance video for at least ten years. I’ll subpoena the footage tomorrow. But now I need to scrutinize these medical records. Will you makes us lunch later?” she asked Cara.

“Sure, we still have some spam left.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. Something nutritious that isn’t found at pet stores.”

“I guess I can swing it,” Cara said.

*** 

Almost three hours later, Kahlan walked out of her bedroom looking as white as a sheet.

Cara’s eyes widened but it took her a few seconds to react. “Kahlan, what is it, what’s wrong?” When Kahlan didn’t answer, she took hold of her shoulders and shook her a bit. “Kahlan, talk to me, please.” Kahlan lifted her arm, which had been limp at her side, and handed Cara the documents she’d been holding. She then sat on the sofa and held her head in her hands.

Cara took a deep breath and sat next to her, reading through the documents. “No,” she said, “this, this can’t be. It must be some sort of mistake. Maybe they pulled the wrong records. Call them, this can’t be right.”

Kahlan looked up at her and shook her head. “It isn’t a mistake, baby. It’s just evidence that I failed her, I failed my little sister. I should have known something was wrong. She’s my sister; I should have seen the signs.”

“You didn’t fail her, Kahlan. She distanced herself from you and now we know why. You would have gotten her the help she needed if she had let you in. You would have been there for her –– we both would have. Blaming yourself won’t change anything. We just need to get her help.” Dennee’s medical records proved that Cara wasn’t responsible for her miscarriage because there was no miscarriage. Dennee had been diagnosed with a rare psychological disorder called pseudocyesis –– false pregnancy. According to the medical records, it was more than likely caused by the trauma of the three previous miscarriages she had suffered. 

“I didn’t even know she was trying to get pregnant,” Kahlan said. “I see it all so clearly now. Your sister and your parents were the only family she ever knew. She had no memories of our mother to hold on to, and once we got sent to boarding school, we hardly saw each other –– outside of lunch and dinner. She was in kindergarten and I was in fifth grade; we weren’t even in the same dormitory.

“When you and I broke up, she was only fourteen. Spirits, she must have needed me so much, but I was hanging on by a thread. How could I be there for her when I could barely manage to get out of bed? She must have felt completely abandoned, which really, she was.” She buried her face in Cara’s shoulder and she cried; she cried for everyone, for Dennee, for her mother, for Cara’s parents, and even for herself. Cara held her wordlessly, with tears running down her own cheeks.

“What do I do now, Cara? She’s already on Mike’s witness list. I have no choice but to question her; if I don’t, the jury will see it as an admission of guilt.”

“So don’t question her. I don’t want you to lose your sister because of me.”

Kahlan sighed and shook her head. “Why would it be your fault? You did nothing wrong; in fact, you saved her life. I’m not going to let you throw away your life to protect my sister, or anyone else. You matter, baby. Regardless of what happened to you in the past, you matter. I am going to question Dennee –– for her sake and yours. Maybe this is what will make her face the truth so that she can get the help that she needs, and I’ll be there for her every step of the way.”

Lunch sat uneaten on the kitchen counter; both she and Kahlan had lost their appetites.

***

As they had agreed, Maxine stopped by in the afternoon. She gazed at Kahlan for a long moment, noticing that her eyes were puffy, and that she hadn’t been greeted with Kahlan’s usual bright smile. Cara, who always wore her emotions on her sleeve, looked as if someone had put a knife through her chest. Maxine decided it was best not to ask so they immediately got to work. It soon became clear that had Darken not been dead already, the information contained in the files Maxine retrieved would have earned him at least fifty consecutive life sentences. “This guy was a monster,” Maxine said, shaking her head and gazing over at Cara. “How did you ––” Kahlan shot her a look that stopped her from finishing the sentence. The last thing she wanted was for Cara to start ruminating on all the horrible things she’d lived through. “Uh, the facial recognition application is working pretty well but because there’s so much footage, it’s going to take time.” She looked over at Kahlan for a moment. “Someone who can actually identify these people is going to have to go over the footage. I’ve narrowed it down by specific dates. I recognized some of them from news reports, but most of them I’ve never seen before.”

Kahlan looked over at Cara, knowing the pained expression she’d find on her face. Maxine looked between them, realizing that Cara was probably the only person who could ID them –– a task that most certainly would be unpleasant for her. Cara furrowed her brow and stared at Maxine for what seemed like a long time. “Did you watch any of it?” Although she didn’t intend it as such, it came across in a menacing tone.

Maxine swallowed hard. “Just the parts relevant to the case,” she said. The conversation was making her more than a little uncomfortable. She was fidgeting and playing with her hair, as if she wanted nothing more than to get out of there. “I’ll work other angles,” she said, “maybe I’ll be able to ID some of them through police records.”

“Thank you, Maxine. I’ll walk you out.”

As the elevator doors closed, Maxine leaned back and said, “Wow, she’s pretty intense.”

Kahlan put her arm around her shoulders in an effort to reassure her. “It’s not you. Cara’s been through a lot. Reliving the contents of that footage is probably her worst nightmare.”

Maxine nodded. “Got it. I’ll do my best to see if I can figure out who they are.”

When Kahlan got back upstairs, Cara was staring out the window with her head resting on the window pane. “Are you okay?” she asked. 

Cara turned her head slightly and nodded. “Yeah, but I think I freaked out Kalinda.”

“She’ll be fine.”

“Let’s watch a movie or something,” Cara said. “Not a murder mystery.” She raised her palm for emphasis.

“Agreed,” Kahlan said, “I cast my vote for something romantic.”

“Abbott and Costello?” Cara asked.

Kahlan gave her a shove. “No, but you’re in the right era. How about You Were Never Lovelier, with Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth?”

Cara chuckled. “You do know we’ve watched that movie at least fifty times.”

“I do know that, yes. It’s still my favorite. Do you remember the first time we watched it?”

“Sure I do. There was a huge blizzard. Grace was competing in a spelling bee in Galea; my parents drove her there. I stayed at your house. Your mom bundled us up in her bed for a movie night. You liked it so much that we watched it five times in a row. Your mom, she was…she just laughed and shook her head. ‘Again?' she’d ask every time you said you wanted to watch it again.” 

Kahlan had a sad smile on her face. “I had the best mom ever, and you had the most wonderful family. I wish so badly they were still with us.”

She pulled Kahlan closer and held her tight. “Let’s watch the movie,” Cara said, and kissed Kahlan on the temple. “But no more than three times.” She raised her index finger with a mock stern look on her face. Kahlan pouted a bit before agreeing to her terms. They fell asleep halfway through the fourth showing –– Cara’s terms turned out to be flexible.

Cara woke up the next morning to find a note on the coffee table. ‘Running errands’ was all it said. It struck her as odd that Kahlan didn’t wake her but as she made herself breakfast, it hit her. “Sabrina the NSA bitch. Fuck,” she said, pounding her fist on the kitchen counter. She turned off the stove, leaving the cracked eggs in the pan, and plunked herself down on the sofa. She then took to pacing in front of the door.

When she heard the key turning in the lock she put her feet on the coffee table and interlaced her fingers behind her neck, looking as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Hey,” she said glancing over at Kahlan just long enough to notice the fresh manicure and pedicure, along with the flawless eyebrow waxing. She was tempted to ask her if she’d waxed any interesting parts but she decided to play it cool. 

“Hey,” Kahlan said, “I gave you a nudge before I left this morning but you were sound asleep. Did you see my note?”

Cara picked up one of her comic books from the coffee table before answering. “Yeah, I saw it.”

It didn’t take Kahlan long to realize that Cara wasn’t in the mood for chitchat. “Well, I’ll leave you to your reading,” she said, and started toward her bedroom. “Oh, what happened here?” she asked when she walked by the kitchen.

Cara shrugged. “The eggs were bad.”

“‘The eggs were bad’,” Kahlan echoed. “I see.”

With that, she went in her room and closed the door behind her. Her first instinct was to reach for Ragedee, but she stopped herself. “No, Ragedee, we are not having this conversation. Cara is obviously at her insufferable worst. But you know what? I have my own life to live. In fact, there is a beautiful woman who is not emotionally damaged, and who is not afraid to open up about her feelings, and who is not the prime suspect in a triple homicide who is taking me on a ––. Argh, I said we are not having this conversation, Ragedee.”

Kahlan would have kept right on talking had Cara not intervened. “Who are you talking to?” she asked, knocking on the door.

Kahlan rolled her eyes, feeling like a complete idiot. She opened the door, and said, “I was on the phone.” Which would have been a perfectly legitimate response had Cara not been holding Kahlan’s phone in her hand. “I, I was on my other phone.”

“What other phone?” Cara asked with her hands on her hips.

“The other phone that I have.” She crossed her arms in front of her with her head held up high.

“Oh yeah, the invisible one, silly me,” Cara said. “Don’t forget to take your meds.”

Kahlan ignored that last remark. She closed the door and got into bed, pulling the covers over her head for a few minutes. “I’m an idiot,” she mumbled.

***

At exactly six o’clock she opened her door and called out for Cara. “Can you help me with my zipper?” 

It took Cara a moment to stop staring and actually take in Kahlan’s request. “Yeah, sure,” she said. Kahlan turned around and Cara edged in closer, reaching for the zipper but not actually doing anything with it.

“What’s wrong? Is it stuck?” Kahlan asked, with a hint of panic in her voice.

Cara paused for a long moment before answering. “No, it’s not,” she said, as she pulled up on it.

“Thank goodness,” Kahlan said, turning around to face Cara. The look on Cara’s face gave her pause. “Does it look horrible?” she asked with a pained expression.

Cara shook her head. “No, it looks beautiful.” She met her gaze with so much intensity that Kahlan felt her knees go weak.

“I, I should go finish my make-up.” Cara pursed her lips and nodded. Kahlan closed the door and leaned against it with her eyes closed. Her heart was pounding so hard that she suspected Cara could probably hear it from the other side of the door. “What are you doing to me, Cara?” She sat down on the edge of the bed to compose herself. Twenty minutes later, she walked out looking every bit like a queen.

Cara didn’t say a word; she just sat on the sofa with her elbows on her knees and her fingers interlaced. “Well, I’m finally ready,” Kahlan said with a nervous smile on her face. Cara tipped her head to meet her gaze but didn’t say anything. “I’ll probably be home late. You don’t have to wait up for me. Oh, and there’s plenty of food in the fridge.” For as much as she wanted to, Cara couldn’t bring herself to look away. “Okay, I should get going,” Kahlan said. “And hey, you can call me if you need anything.” Cara still didn’t say anything.

Kahlan took a deep breath and headed for the door, but she stopped just short of opening it. “So here’s the thing,” Kahlan said, while still facing the door; her voice broke a bit, and tears were threatening to ruin her make-up. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known, you really are. You’ve lived through things that would have destroyed most people, but not you; you somehow managed to get through it. The physical abuse, the torture, the many losses, you got through all of it, but I was brave, too, baby. From the very beginning, before all of those horrible things happened to you, I took all the risks –– and not once did I hold back. And I didn’t hold back because you were always worth the risk. On the first day of school, I was the one who reached out and held your hand. And a few years later, I was the one who said I love you, hoping against hope that you would say it back, and when you did, I was the happiest girl in the world. And that first kiss, that was all me, Cara. I made myself vulnerable over and over again, because you were worth it, you were worth risking rejection, you worth getting my heart broken, you were always worth it to me because I loved you, I loved you so much.

“A thousand times, I’ve handed you my heart, but I can’t do it anymore, baby. I’ve lost too much; I’m just not that brave anymore. My heart is so bruised and battered that just the thought of letting someone in terrifies me. It’s up to you this time, love. I can’t, I just can’t do it. So if you want me to stay –– and I think you do –– you’re going to have to be the brave one. And if you can’t do it, or you don’t want to, it’s okay. I won’t be angry at you and I won’t love you any less than I do. I’ll just accept that no matter how much you mean to me, I have to move on.” Cara released a hiss that Kahlan interpreted as a clear indication that it was really over between them.

With a deep intake of air, Kahlan straightened her spine and lifted her chin as she opened the door, but before she could cross the threshold, a strong pair of hands slammed the door shut and she felt a weight pressed to the back of her body. “I want you to stay,” said that familiar voice she had loved for years. “I always want you to stay. And, no, I’m not brave, not in the way that you are, because I’m scared right now, I’m fucking terrified that if I tell you that I love you you’ll die, just like everyone else has. But if I don’t tell you, I’ll lose you and I don’t want to lose you, Kahlan. And it’s not because you’re all I have left, it’s because you’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

Kahlan turned around in Cara’s arms and wiped away the tears streaking Cara’s cheeks. “You just told me, baby.” She cupped Cara’s cheeks, kissed each of her eye lids and finally her lips. They stayed like that for a long moment as if neither of them had any idea what should happen next –– except Kahlan quickly formulated a plan. She took hold of Cara’s hand and guided it to exactly where she wanted it. “Get me out of this dress, and make love to me.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to skip the summary and move directly to expressing my gratitude for all of you who have been patient enough to stick with this story. The past couple of months have been filled with health drama. I kid you not, first I got diagnosed with skin cancer, which required a rather gruesome surgical procedure — on my face no less, shortly after I had a vasovagal syncope that landed me in the hospital for over week (head meets tiles, tiles win 100% of the time). Dozens of tests, and a bunch of doctor's visits followed. The good news is I'm back! As always, much gratitude to statuepup for keeping me honest and to the wonderful laurilee59 for the free legal advice. You two are awesome.

Cara nodded and reached around to pull down her zipper. With the dress pooled at her feet, Kahlan stepped out of it, holding Cara’s hand for balance as she stood before her wearing five-inch stilettos, black panties, and a push-up bra. “Wow,” Cara said, “you didn’t wear that getup when we were sixteen.”

Kahlan blushed, but that didn’t stop her from doing away with Cara’s t-shirt. “I’m a big girl now –– we both are.” She pulled Cara into a deep kiss, and as their lips parted, she said, “I’ve been in love with you my whole life; even when I tried to hate you, I was in love with you.”

 “I thought about you every day, and I missed you, I missed you so much I thought I’d die from missing you. And yeah, I made a mess of things but there wasn’t a single day that you weren’t the most important person in the world to me. I lost everything, Kahlan, you know that, but I never stopped loving you, I never even tried to stop loving you. Even when we didn’t speak to each other for years, you were what kept me going.” She kissed Kahlan on the lips and held her in her arms for a long moment. “But, you’re a foot taller than me in those heels, which is a little intimidating, so take them off so that we can get to the sex part, okay?”   
Kahlan laughed so hard she almost keeled over. “Heels off for the sex part. Got it. I love that you’re such a romantic.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Where would you like me to romance you first, the kitchen counter, the sofa, the living room floor? Because I’m planning on romancing you for days — in all kinds of interesting positions.”

“I want you in my bed, day and night, completely naked — for the rest of our lives.” With that, she took hold of Cara’s hand and walked her into the bedroom.

For all their bravado, they were both nervous. Cara swallowed hard at the realization that this was actually happening. “You are so beautiful,” she said as she got into bed. Kahlan gave her a shy smile and pulled her into her arms, releasing a soft moan the moment she felt Cara’s warm skin pressed to her own. This wasn’t going to be the rushed lovemaking of their teenage years. There was no sense of urgency or desperation. They were two adult women who had traveled a long road to find their way back to each other, and they were intent on savoring every moment of it. Every touch, every word that passed between them was filled with passion, and also with a sort of reverence that neither of them had ever experienced. When Kahlan arched off the bed in response to Cara’s caresses and soft kisses, Cara looked on in wonder, taking in the perfection of the moment. This wasn’t the sex part, she realized; this was the love part. And so she made love to Kahlan and Kahlan made love to her with the complete certainty that nothing or no one could ever tear them apart again. As Kahlan reached her release one more time, Cara held her in her arms, and told her she loved her.

“Wow, you’re going to have to marry me after that,” Kahlan said, as she burrowed into the crook of Cara’s shoulder.

Craning her neck to meet Kahlan’s gaze, Cara asked, “Did you just propose to me?” She had a big grin on her face. “Because if you did, you’re going to have to put a ring on it.”

Kahlan smiled. “Is that so?”

“If you want the cow, you have to buy the milk, or something along those lines.”

“Well, in that case, I’m going to have to test-drive the cow again,” she said, straddling Cara’s waist and moving in a rhythmic motion that delighted Cara.

“Mixed metaphors aside, you can test-drive me anytime but, for the record, I would rather be your sex kitten than your cow.”

“Mm, my sex kitten, you just totally turned me on again.” Cara smirked, shifted their positions, and disappeared under the sheets. “Oh baby, don’t stop, please. You are so good at that. Yes, just like that. Oh yessss, more. Fuck, yessss.” Cara propped herself on her elbows admiring her own handiwork. When Kahlan finally caught her breath, she kissed Cara long and hard on the mouth. “Baby, after that bit of magic you just did, I will definitely put a ring on it, two rings if you’d like.”

And then the phone rang, and it rang, and it rang, and it rang until Kahlan finally gave up and answered it. “Sabrina,” she said, earning herself a murderous glare from Cara. “No, I’m fine,” she said. “Yes, I should have called you.” Kahlan glanced over at Cara and gestured an apology with her hands, as Sabrina spoke on the other end of the call. “Look, I’m sorry,” she said in response. “I just, I couldn’t go through with it. You’ve been wonderful to me, you really have but I have too many things to work out right now. You deserve better than what I have to offer right now. Yes, I’ll call in a couple of days. I’m truly sorry, Sabrina.”

“Oh, so she’s been wonderful to you,” Cara said with a scowl. “Maybe you should drive over there and make it up to her. Why let all that groveling go to waste?”

This was exactly what Kahlan didn’t want to have happen. “Baby, please be reasonable. Given our current circumstances, I don’t think making an enemy out of a high-ranking NSA official is a good idea. Don’t be angry with me, please. We just found our way back to each other.” Cara didn’t say a word to her. Instead, she walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Kahlan threw her arms up in frustration and plunked down on the sofa.

A few minutes later, Cara walked out of the bathroom wearing her flannel robe. “Is this a fight?” Kahlan asked, looking up at her from her spot on the sofa. “Are we having a fight? Because I really don’t want that.” Cara didn’t answer, she just plunked down on the sofa next to her. After ten minutes without either of them saying a word, Kahlan edged closer and rubbed Cara’s ear with her nose. “Are you breaking up with me again, is that it?” she asked, as she peppered Cara’s neck with kisses.

Cara frowned and shook her head. “No, of course I’m not breaking up with you. But I wouldn’t mind breaking both her legs.”

For as much as she tried to repress it, Kahlan could not help but let loose a chuckle. “Baby, you know you’re the only woman in the world I want. Sabrina was yet another failed attempt at getting over you. Please don’t be mad.” Cara gave her a side glance but didn’t say anything. “So,” Kahlan said at length, “I definitely think this was a fight. There’s only one thing we can do, Cara.”

“And what would that be, invite her over for coffee so that we can all hug it out?”

Kahlan sighed. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of kitchen counter make-up sex,” she said, sliding her hand inside Cara’s robe, just enough to caress one of her breasts. “But baby, you’ve got to take off that awful robe.”

“You bought it for me,” Cara pointed out.

“Yes, I know,” she said, nibbling on Cara’s earlobe, “but that’s when I was trying to get over you; now I’m trying really hard to get under you.” The seductive smile Kahlan gave her sealed the deal. They allowed themselves to indulge in the illusion of normalcy but remained keenly aware that what lay ahead could very well blow it all to pieces.  
***

With Cara sound asleep beside her, Kahlan gingerly dragged herself out of bed before dawn and started outlining Cara’s appeal. “Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst,” she mumbled to herself. Cara was hers again and that was everything; now she had to focus on keeping her out of prison. The most damning pieces of evidence were Cara’s prints on the murder weapon and the gun residue found on her hand. Mike Cypher would hammer that into the jurors’ heads over and over throughout the trial; it was Kahlan’s job to somehow erase the weight of it from their minds. How exactly she would achieve that, she chalked up as one of life’s great mysteries because she hadn’t a clue as to how to overcome it. She shook her head, and tapped the question mark key on her laptop at least a dozen times, hoping the answer would magically show up on the screen. What showed up instead were Cara’s lips pressing kisses on her neck. “You’re up, and you’re naked,” she said as she turned her chair around, and urged Cara forward to straddle her lap. She gave her a lingering kiss on the lips, and leaned forward to kiss the tops of her breasts.

“I am,” Cara said, “and I have a proposition for you.”

Kahlan smiled. “Is it an indecent proposition? Because, as you may have noticed, I can’t get enough of you.”

Cara nudged forward, gyrating her hips just enough to earn herself a moan and two enthusiastic hands caressing her backside. “No,” Cara informed her, “this is a business proposition.”

“I was hoping for a pleasurable proposition, but I’ll keep an open mind. What sort of business venture are we embarking upon? And please tell me it doesn’t involve you putting your clothes on.”

“It does not,” Cara said. “I’m offering my services as your personal assistant for the day. While you do lawyer stuff, I’m going to declutter your life, starting with that gigantic pile of unread mail you’ve got going. Once I have it all sorted, you’re going paperless.” She walked over to Kahlan’s desk and reached under the stack of papers to reveal Kahlan’s scanner. Noticing the panicked look on Kahlan’s face, Cara kissed her and said, “Don’t worry, you get to keep your yellow legal pad — as long as I have access to the girls.”

Kahlan leaned forward –– giving Cara an eyeful. “I accept your terms, but I warn you, the girls need lots of attention.”

“I’m on it, boss.” She hiked up Kahlan’s t-shirt and proceeded to give ‘the girls,’ as she referred to them, several minutes of undivided attention. If the sounds of pleasure Kahlan was making were any indication, Cara was an exemplary personal assistant.

“Baby, after all the attention you gave the girls, you’re going to have to travel further south, otherwise I may die.” Cara smirked and dove right in.

Needless to say, work didn’t begin until after an extended visit to the bedroom. Kahlan reasoned that they were making up for lost time, and she also knew that what she deemed as Cara’s fetish for order practically guaranteed that everything would get done. And besides, she hadn’t been this happy in years — or maybe ever.  
***

When they finally managed to tear themselves away from each other, Kahlan sat on the sofa going about her ‘lawyer stuff’ — as Cara referred to it — which mostly consisted of going over depositions, and strategizing. Truth be told, this late in the game there wasn’t much left to be done.

“So,” Cara said, leaning on the threshold of Kahlan’s bedroom door. “Meet your desk. Since it’s been buried underneath a lifetime of clutter, I decided an introduction was in order.”

“But where’s my stuff?” Kahlan asked. Her eyes were wide with panic. All that was left on her desk was a pen, a legal pad, and her scanner.

“I suppose you need to know, but,” she added at length, “first you have to kiss me.”

“Good, I love kissing you so thank you for this wonderful opportunity.” She pulled Cara close and gave her a deep, passionate kiss that left Cara’s lips kiss-swollen and hungry for more. When she leaned in to return the favor, Kahlan raised her index finger, and said, “No more kisses until you tell me what you did with my mail.”

“Deal,” Cara said, “but you have to promise to remain calm.”

Kahlan frowned. “Okay, now you’re scaring me.”

Cara pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “Well, with Kalinda hanging around here all the time, I picked up some tech tips from her.”

“Go on,” Kahlan said.

“Evernote.”

“Ever-what?”

“Evernote. All your paper clutter is in Evernote. I scanned it all, organized it by date, added tags, and uploaded all of it.”

Kahlan blinked, and her hand went to her chin. “But…where did you put the actual mail?”

“In the shredder.”

By the pained expression on her face, Cara quickly discerned that Kahlan wasn’t all that keen on going paperless. “Baby, I like to actually touch my mail, but because I love you, I will learn to live with your OCD.” She leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “But now I have to get dressed and go run some errands; otherwise we’re going to starve.”

“Food,” Cara said with a nod, “good plan. After we eat, we can get back to the sex.”

Kahlan laughed. “I am so crazy about you,” she said as she walked into the bedroom and got dressed.  
***

As it turns out, Kahlan wasn’t the only person who had chosen that particular morning to run errands. Just as she was about to walk into her favorite gourmet shop in one of Aydindril’s trendiest neighborhoods, she caught a glimpse of Colette Rimbaud and her wife sitting at a table enjoying their morning coffee, only they weren’t alone. Much to her dismay, Maxine was also seated at the table, and next to her was a young man around the same age, with blonde hair that hung just above his shoulders. They were talking and laughing, and obviously very comfortable with each other. One word, and one word alone, of their conversation reached Kahlan’s ears and to her it sounded as loud as a foghorn. ‘Mom’, the boy called Sabine ‘Mom’.

She’d only caught a glimpse of the back of his head at first, but then he rose from his chair and walked to the counter to settle the bill. Kahlan instantly knew that he could not be anyone other than Cara’s son. He had Cara’s eyes, and Cara’s complexion, and Cara’s patented smirk. But most telling of all were his mannerisms. The Rimbauds’ son walked, talked, and carried himself exactly like Cara’s dad. He was just over six feet tall, like his grandfather, and his eyes softened when he smiled.

After taking it all in, Kahlan turned on her heel and got back in her car before the others could spot her. When she was a few blocks away, she parked her car and stayed there until she could get hold of herself. Within seconds, it all became clear. The Rimbauds hadn’t shown up at the courthouse for political reasons, they were there to get a good look at Cara. It wasn’t Cara’s hotness that caused them to stare; it was her resemblance to their son. Like everyone else in Aydindril, they’d probably seen Cara’s fourth grade picture. The dinner invitation that followed was nothing more than a fact-finding mission. Mention of the young artist whose work they favored over the Picasso painting that had been relegated to a hallway was more of the same. Her instinct had been completely on point; the Rimbauds had been sizing her up. They wanted to know if Kahlan was aware of the boy’s parentage.

Maxine’s role in all of this was still unclear so she decided to leave it alone — for now. Instead she headed straight to the one person whom she had suspected of keeping secrets from the very beginning. Denna wasn’t exactly thrilled by the unexpected visit, but she wasn’t surprised by it either.

“What, no flowers?” Denna said, looking Kahlan over from head to foot. “You’re looking a lot like Casper the friendly ghost — except for the friendly part.”

Kahlan sighed, and followed Denna into the living room. “Are the Rimbauds the adoptive parents of Cara’s son?”

It took Denna a moment to decide whether or not she should tell the truth. In the end she didn’t see the point of lying. If Kahlan was there it was because she already knew. “Shota took one look at that tiny baby and decided there was no way she’d let Darken ever get his hands on him. He’d turn him into a serial killer by his first birthday. She figured the Rimbauds were wealthy and powerful enough to protect him, and they have.”

“And you couldn’t tell me that when we last spoke?”

“He’s a good kid — a lot like Cara actually. Were it not for this murder, this secret never would have come out.”

“So you know him?” Kahlan asked. “You know Cara’s son?”

“My face was the first thing that kid saw when he came into this fucked-up world. I held him in my arms on the day he was born; I got him out of the mansion. Short of changing his diapers, Shota and I have been there for him from day one.”

“Does he know Cara is his mother?”

Denna thought for a long moment. “I don’t think anyone has actually told him, but with all of those pictures of her in the news and plastered all over the internet, I don’t see how he wouldn’t. And I’m sure Colette and Sabine have figured it out, too. There’re two things I can tell you for sure - he adores his mothers, and his mothers will stop at nothing to protect him.”

“Even at Cara’s expense? Because, believe me, I will stop at nothing to destroy them if they do anything to harm her, or her case.”

“They’re moms,” Denna said, giving her a meaningful look. “Colette and Sabine are good people, but when it comes to protecting their son, all bets are off.”

Kahlan released an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “Is there anything else that you’re keeping from me?” Denna didn’t answer. “I’m not the enemy here, Denna. I think we all want the same thing. Darken was the bad guy, the rest of us have spent our lives cleaning up his mess.”

“I don’t want Cara to go up the river any more than you do. If I knew of a way to fix this, I’d tell you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wake up Shota.”

Kahlan nodded and saw herself out. Now she had to decide whether or not to tell Cara about the boy. But the first order of business was confronting Maxine. She sent her a text message asking her to meet her at AU later in the day. With that, she picked up a few items at the supermarket and rushed back home.

“I’m so sorry,” she preemptively said to Cara, “traffic was awful.” She put the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and threw her arms around Cara, holding her there for almost a full minute.

“I was about to dial 911,” Cara said, and kissed her on the lips. “Relax, I’ll make breakfast, or should I say lunch?” She looked back at Kahlan over her shoulder for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem…rattled.”

“Nothing that holding you in my arms won’t fix, baby. After lunch, we can make love until dinner time, but I will have to step out afterwards. Maxine and I need to go over a few things. She has a late class at AU so I’m meeting her there. I won’t be long, I promise.”

She had planned on spending a leisurely day in bed with Cara but that encounter at the gourmet shop changed everything. Kahlan felt angry and betrayed — by Maxine and by the Rimbauds. That Denna turned out to be the one person who had thus far been honest with her was quite a surprise — that’s not to say she trusted Denna but she did believe that she was on Cara’s side.

Cara didn’t mention it, but it didn’t escape her that Kahlan seemed distant and tense. She’d known Kahlan for most of her life; narrowing down the cause of her behavior only took a matter of seconds. Kahlan was either keeping a secret or angry. And while Cara was tempted to ask, she decided to give Kahlan space.

After lunch, Kahlan cuddled up next to her on the sofa and rested her head on Cara’s shoulder. “I love you,” she said, tracing Cara’s jawline with her fingertip. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to shake off the memory of the Rimbaud boy’s face. He was every bit the male version of a teenage Cara. As she sat there in Cara’s arms, her head was spinning in every direction. Cara had a right to know, but Kahlan wasn’t willing to risk Cara having a breakdown this late in the game, especially with the trial just days away.

After Kahlan showered and changed, Cara kissed her and said, “You don’t have to tell me what’s bothering you and I’m not going to ask, but I’m here and I’m willing to listen.”

“I know you are, baby, and I love you for it. Just be patient with me today.” She gave Cara a tight hug, and headed for AU. While she had a mind to strangle the little schemer, she knew better than to lose her temper. That said, she had every intention of treating Maxine like a hostile witness.  
***

“What’s up, boss lady?”

Kahlan moistened her lips and glared at her. “What’s your game, Maxine?” Maxine furrowed her brow but didn’t reply. “I saw you this morning — with the Rimbauds and their son. Did they pay you to lie to me?”

Maxine hung her head down for moment. “No, it’s not like that.”

“And why would I believe anything you have to say? For all I know, you’ve been feeding the DA evidence from day one.” Kahlan released a puff of air and grabbed Maxine by the shoulders. “You know what Cara’s been through, Maxine. I swear, if you’ve done anything to harm Cara’s case, you are going to live to regret it, that much I can promise you.”

“Look, I’m sorry I lied to you but I’d never do anything to hurt you or Cara. You guys are good people, and I’ve done all I can to help.” She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. “His name is Griffin,” she said, staring down at the ground. “We were best friends all the way from kindergarten to middle school, and now, well, we love each other.”

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “Cara’s son is your boyfriend,” Kahlan said, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“He wasn’t out searching for his birth parents. Griffin has the best life of anyone I know. His moms love him and he adores them.”

“Then why did you take this case? You had to have known that it was a conflict of interest — not to mention unethical.”

Maxine sat on one of the tables in the University’s courtyard and stared out at nothing for a minute. “We were just watching TV. Then the news came on and they flashed that picture of Cara when she was nine. We looked at each other and bee-lined it to one of his moms’ photo albums. We could hardly tell them apart.”

“That doesn’t explain why you lied to me.”

“Griffin freaked out. He always knew he was adopted, and he was cool with it. But suddenly finding out that his birth mother was the prime suspect in a triple homicide isn’t the type of news a seventeen-year-old kid can just shrug off. He asked me to help him find out what type of person she was. We tried to track down his father, too, but it was as if he’d never existed. That’s when I decided to take the case.”

“I trusted you, Maxine, I trusted you and you lied to me.”

Maxine shrugged. “You love Cara and you want to protect her, that’s why you took her case. I love Griffin, so I did my best to reassure him that he wasn’t borne to some monster. I’m sorry I lied to you but I swear to you, I did my job. Every bit of evidence I gathered is legit, and other than telling Griffin that Cara wasn’t a murderer, I didn’t discuss the case with anyone.”

After listening to Maxine’s story, Kahlan was fairly certain that she was being honest. Still, she reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook. She mentally calculated Maxine’s billable hours and handed her a check. “I wish you would have been honest with me.” With that, she headed back to her apartment, leaving a dejected Maxine in her wake.

***

Kahlan sat in her car for almost an hour trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing by not telling Cara about Griffin. In the end, she couldn’t go through with it — especially not after firing Maxine for lying to her. She also reasoned that if she and Cara were to have any chance at a life together, they had to be honest with each other. Cara having lied to protect Kahlan from Darken had set all of this into motion in the first place.

She took a deep breath and turned the key in the lock. “We need to talk,” she said, with as much resolve as she could muster.

Cara gazed at her for a long moment. “Could you make that sound any more ominous?”

Kahlan curled up beside her on the sofa and, after releasing a deep sigh, told her everything, all the while bracing herself for Cara’s inevitable meltdown. Only it never came. Cara listened without showing any emotion or reacting in any way. When Kahlan was done, Cara pursed her lips and thought for several minutes.

“So the kid has parents who love him and look out for him. That’s a good thing, but it has nothing to do with us. Kalinda had her own agenda going all along, but let’s face it, everyone does. I think we should have dinner, followed by mind-blowing sex, and face the fact that we’ve done all we can.”

Kahlan had a big grin on her face. “Wow, look at you suddenly being all Zen-y.”

Cara shifted her position to straddle Kahlan’s lap and kissed her hard on the mouth. “I have my girl back. That’s all I ever wanted.”

“Yeah, that line is about to get you get you laid,” Kahlan said, practically ripping Cara’s t-shirt off.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hold on to your hats. Jury selection is around the corner. There's also talk of a potential witness, and perhaps an opportunity for young Maxine to somewhat redeem herself.

Kahlan stood before the mirror adjusting the collar of the crisp white shirt she wore under her beige Chanel suit. “Hair up or down?” she asked.

Cara thought for a moment before answering. “Down.” She leaned in and kissed the tops of Kahlan’s breasts. “The combo of the gorgeous hair and the epic boobs’ll have prospective jurors down on their knees begging you to command them.”

“If only it were that easy, baby.” She gave Cara a lingering kiss on the lips, and grabbed her briefcase as she walked toward the door. “I have to go, love, but I’ll call you as soon as I have a chance.”

Cara nodded and said, “I love you.” Kahlan smiled; it was exactly what she needed to hear.

This was going to be a long day for her. The first order of business was submitting all the documentary evidence, which included Dennee’s medical records, expert testimony from various sources, and a yet-to-be-disclosed statement from Demmin Nass. His attorney assured the judge the statement would be on record before the end of the day. Nass, Kahlan surmised, was out to save his own neck by playing both sides of the fence. The delay in producing the statement led her to believe that Nass was probably unsure as to how much information he should disclose. Kahlan wasn’t particularly bothered by it since she had every intention of tearing him apart on the witness stand. Nass was already sitting in a jail cell awaiting his own trial date so his options were limited — point the finger at a dead man or spin some wild tale that only an idiot would buy into. From her perspective, it was a win-win situation. He was already the most hated man in Aydindril and the pile of evidence against him was irrefutable.

She and Cypher had already agreed on the jury questionnaire, which somewhat simplified matters, but it didn’t make it any less exhausting. Kahlan took a deep breath as the judge walked into the courtroom. “Thank you all for your participation as prospective jurors in this case,” he said, before reading the remainder of the lengthy instructions. Kahlan listened intently and also peered over at the men and women who would perhaps decide Cara’s fate. She took in the nuances of their body language, and she attempted to discern how engaged they were in the process –– even at this early stage. Her ability to read people had given her an edge throughout her career. How many of them had seen Cara’s fourth-grade picture and felt a pang in their heart? Which of the prospective jurors, male or female, instantly cast beautiful women in the role of vixens? Did any of the men have knight-in-shining-armor complexes that would elicit in them an urge to save Cara? Kahlan had seen all of these possible permutations play out hundreds of times so she dutifully took mental notes.

***

Back at the apartment, Cara did her best to remain calm but it wasn’t an easy proposition. She turned the TV on and off at least a dozen times, then she attempted to read her comic books, but that didn’t help much either. As a last ditch attempt at calming herself, she scanned the apartment in the hopes of finding something to clean or organize but the place was impeccable. “Fuck, why is this my life?” she asked out loud.

Salvation, however, came in the form of an unexpected ring of the doorbell — not that she necessarily wanted company. What she wanted was something, anything, to jolt her out of the incessant stream of worst-case scenarios that were running through her mind. She pressed her eye to the peephole and for a few seconds debated whether or not she should open the door. In the end, a combination of stress and curiosity won out.

“Has the guilt made you suicidal? Because if Kahlan were here, she’d probably throw you out the window.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty pissed at me,” Maxine said. Since Cara hadn’t invited her in, she was awkwardly standing in the hallway with her computer bag hanging from her shoulder. “Can I come in? I’m not armed, I promise. You can frisk me if you want.”

Cara rolled her eyes, and gestured an invitation with her hands. “I should have handled things differently, I know that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about your case. Please, just let me help you go through the rest of the footage. It’s the least I can do.” Cara didn’t answer. “Look, I get that this sucks, that I suck for having lied to you and Kahlan, but there’s no way around it. There could be evidence in the footage that’ll exonerate you. Please don’t let what I did potentially harm your case.”

Although she knew Kahlan wasn’t going to like it one bit, Cara decided that even if Maxine was doing it out of guilt, she could use all the help she could get. “Fine, we’ll watch some home movies, but listen very carefully, we-are-not-going-to talk-about-the-kid.” Maxine’s first instinct was to stand up for Griffin, but she realized that Cara’s unwillingness to talk about him stemmed from her own traumatic experience, not some sort of disdain for the boy.

“I really wish I could ID all of the players without your help. There’re some unexpected faces that could be important. This guy over here,” she said, pointing at her computer screen, “is a cop, and yet he was a regular at the Rahl mansion. All of their meetings took place in a room without windows, right off the garage. He drove directly into the service entrance every time. I looked into his files; he wasn’t moonlighting as a security guard for the estate. My best guess is that he was on the take.”

Cara chuckled. “Darken had half of the Aydindril PD on his payroll. If this cop had that kind of access, he was either disposing of dead bodies or bringing in girls.” She furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. “I remember a while back Darken and Nass were in Darken’s office for hours talking to two guys. It was something about ballistics and crime scenes. Darken, the idiot, left the intercom on for a few seconds but when he realized it, he shut it off.”

“Did you see their faces? Maybe we can ID them from the footage.”

“No,” Cara said. “I didn’t see them come in or leave. Darken was a sneaky fuck. He probably brought them in through some secret entrance. I’ll tell Kahlan about it when she get’s home.”

Cara got up to stretch her legs. “So what’s your story, Kalinda? Kahlan told me about your dad passing away, which sucks — trust me, I know. But you’re just a kid. Shouldn’t you be hanging out with beer-drinking college kids or something?”

Maxine considered the question. “Probably, but my Pop was my best friend. When he died, the one thing that made it easier was following in his footsteps. He helped a lot of people, and he was best father any kid could have.”

“Here,” she said, handing Maxine a sandwich she’d made for herself earlier but never got around to eating. “Why don’t you leave the hard drive with the footage? I’ll check out the rest of it myself. I’m not feeling too good about having you here. Kahlan and I don’t keep secrets from each other.”

Maxine shoulders slumped, and she looked down before nodding her head. “Yeah, it was probably a bad idea in the first place,” she said, placing the drive down on the coffee table.

Cara tipped her head as Maxine walked toward the door, and said, “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re evil or anything.” Maxine looked back at her over her shoulder and gave her a slight nod. The moment the words left Cara’s lips, she and Maxine heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the lock. “Fuck,” Cara said with a low groan.

Kahlan’s smile lit up the room but it quickly faded when she noticed Maxine awkwardly staring down at her own feet. She looked over at Cara then at Maxine. “Why are you here?” she asked in a thunderous tone that practically shook the room.

Cara immediately defused the situation by placing her hand on Kahlan’s shoulder and pointing at the hard drive sitting on the coffee table. “Kalinda stopped by to drop it off. There’s still a lot of footage that could be important.”

“If you guys need anything…,” Maxine said as she walked out the door.

“Thank you for bringing the drive,” Kahlan said dryly.

As soon the door closed, Cara pulled Kahlan into her arms and kissed her. “I missed you,” she said before kissing her a second time.

“Good, now get me out of these clothes and get you out of those. I think we should take a hot, soapy shower together. You can wash my back, and various other body parts in need of attention,” she said. “Being away from you is absolute torture.”

Cara had no objections to that plan. They stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out. “Mm, you are so delicious when you’re all slippery and wet. I can’t keep my hands off you.”

With a smirk on her face, Cara offered up a solution. “I could tie you up.” Kahlan blushed furiously at the suggestion. “Give it some thought. The offer stands. Once the trial is over, we’ll go to that shop on the corner of Fifth and Mercer. But we can talk about that later. How did it go at court today?”

“Mostly grunt work. Tomorrow morning we’ll go over the jury questionnaires and start picking jurors.” She paused for a long moment, knowing that what she was about to say was going to send Cara into a bit of a panic. “And,” she said at length, “you’ll make your first appearance before the prospective jurors.”

“I’ll do what?” Cara said, wide-eyed and looking as if she was about to run and hide under the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Baby, I know you; had I told you before, you would have been a ball of nerves for days. It’ll be fine.” She kissed Cara on the nose and smiled at her.

Cara crossed her arms and scowled. “Shouldn’t you train me or something? What if I mess it up?”

“Baby, I don’t see how I can train you on sitting quietly. Tomorrow on the drive to the courthouse I’ll give you a few pointers. Now, I just want you to relax. The jury selection’ll take several days.”

After dinner, Kahlan went over her notes while Cara rubbed her shoulders. Kahlan purred like a kitten as she felt all the tension of the day leave her body, yet she somehow managed to stay focused on her notes.

One decision Mike made, Kahlan was certain, would come back to haunt him. While he had interviewed Dennee quite thoroughly, he’d never bothered to pull her medical records— big mistake. Dennee was the second witness on his list. Once Kahlan cross-examined her, Mike would come off as an incompetent hack. Jurors in a murder case take their responsibility seriously. A prosecutor not doing his due diligence wouldn't sit well with them. Kahlan was banking on that setting the tone for the entire trial. Losing the jury’s trust this early on would cost him dearly. Kahlan had already decided that those records were the last piece of evidence she’d introduce.

Cara’s plan for the next few days was to be the best girlfriend on the planet. While it was her life that was on the line, she knew that Kahlan was doing all the heavy lifting. The next morning she surprised Kahlan with breakfast in bed. Kahlan rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and smiled. “Mm, that smells so good,” she said, “and so do you.” She sat up, and kissed Cara on the lips. “What did I do to earn this royal treatment?”

“Let’s see, you’re brilliant, you’re beautiful, you have epic boobs, and I happen to love you.” That earned her Kahlan’s most radiant smile.

“I’d love to stay in bed all day listening to you say nice things about me, but we have to get to the court house.” They gulped down their coffee and ate their breakfast in a matter of minutes. Jury selection was starting in a couple of hours so she slipped into the shower, with Cara right behind her. Needless to say, it made for a very hot shower. “Oh baby,” she said, “that spot needs a bit more soap.” Cara tipped her head, and got to soaping. After a series of moans, she practically melted into Cara’s arms. “I love your version of showers,” she said as she pulled Cara into another kiss. “But we have to get dressed, or we’ll be late.” She’d laid out both their outfits the previous night, and Cara had organized Kahlan’s briefcase. After going through hair and makeup, she took a deep breath and said, “Let the games begin,” and she kissed Cara one last time as they walked out the door.

On the drive to the courthouse, Kahlan gave Cara a series of instructions. “The prospective jurors are going to scrutinize everything about you. Your job is to stay calm and attentive. Listen and remain engaged but don’t focus your attention on anyone in particular. At this stage, you have to think of them as a unit; it’s my job to connect with them as individuals. Mike will try to rattle you somehow, but as far as you’re concerned, he isn’t even there.”

Cara swallowed hard, and tried to take it all in. With a quick glance and a firm nod at each other, they entered the courthouse — opting for the rear entrance in an effort to avoid the press. Thirty potential jurors were already seated, awaiting the judge’s arrival. Kahlan and Cara sat side by side at their appointed table. Cara silently repeated Kahlan’s instructions to herself, and added an additional one — remembering to breathe. That would be her primary focus throughout the jury selection process, and probably throughout the entire trial.

“All rise for Judge Samuel D. Hammett,” the bailiff said, as the judge entered the courtroom.

“I’d like to thank all of you for taking your civic duty seriously enough to participate in this process. Today, Ms. Amnell, counsel for the defense, and Mr. Cypher, the prosecutor assigned to this case, will be asking you some questions regarding your ability to sit on this jury. There are many reasons why you may be disqualified as a juror — none of which are moral judgments. There may be logistical impediments, ideological reasons, or you may have read or perhaps have knowledge about this case that leads you to doubt your ability to be impartial. All that I ask of you is that you be honest with yourself, and with the court. Mr. Cypher, please begin.”

Mike rose to his feet and approached the jury box. “Good morning, Mr. Ames,” he said to the juror seated on the far right of the box. “Do you think women are capable of violence?” He turned slightly away from the jurors and looked over at Cara. Kahlan didn’t like it one bit, but Cara handled it like a champ.

Mr. Ames furrowed his brow, and said, “I suppose.”

“Can you give a few examples of those circumstances?”

“To defend themselves, or maybe out of fear or anger.”

“What about jealousy, and greed?” Mike asked pointedly.

The potential juror thought for a moment, and said, “Men and women aren’t all that different.”

“Do you have any further questions for Mr. Ames?” the judge asked.

“No, Your Honor.”

“Ms. Amnell, please proceed,” the judge said.

“Good morning, Mr. Ames. How are you feeling today?” she asked in a warm tone. The sharp contrast between Kahlan and Mike’s approach was notable.

He slightly tipped his head before answering. “A little nervous, to tell you the truth.”

“That’s okay,” Kahlan replied, “I’m a little nervous, too. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself? What do you do?” She punctuated the statement with a smile.

“I’m a stay-at-home dad of three little girls,” he said, his face beaming with pride.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. What are their names?” Kahlan asked with genuine interest.

“Stacey, Gina, and Ali.” By then he had a huge grin on his face.

“Tell me, Mr. Ames, do you feel that there is anything that would bother you or make you uncomfortable about sitting on this jury? Once we are done talking to all of you,” she said, looking up at all the jurors, “Judge Hammett will ask all of you if there is anything that could prevent you from rendering an impartial verdict, but right now I’d like to know how you feel about being here, Mr. Ames.”

“I feel like it’s important. He looked over at Cara for a fraction of a second. Someone’s life is on the line.”

Kahlan nodded, and extended her hand to him. “Thank you, Mr. Ames, your girls are lucky to have you.” Mike gritted his teeth in frustration. After only interviewing one juror, Kahlan had won over most of the panel. The day had just begun, however; she wasn’t taking anything for granted.

She and Mike interviewed eight more jurors before the judge decided to break for lunch. She and Kahlan sat at the café across from the courthouse. “Is it wrong that all I could think about while you were interviewing the jurors was taking your panties off and having my way with you?”

Kahlan smiled. “It’s not wrong at all, but it’ll have to wait. What do you think about the jury selection so far?”

“People don’t make decisions based on what they think; they make decisions based on how they feel. Mike doesn’t get that, you do. That’s why we’re going to win. When that guy with the three little girls looked over at me, all he saw was his girls. I might as well be his fourth kid. You did that,” Cara said, “Once you asked his daughters’ names, he was in full-on dad mode.”

That was one of Kahlan’s many gifts as an attorney — she took people out of their heads, and into their hearts. “Very astute of you, my love. I actually learned that from your mother.”

“I know you did. That was her theory; the heart knows what the head can only guess at.”

“This is nice,” Kahlan said, covering Cara’s hand with hers.

“What? Me being on trial for murder?”

“No, us sitting at a café having lunch together like a normal couple.”

Cara smiled. “Yeah, it is.” She paused for a moment lost in her own thoughts. “Normal isn’t something we’ve ever had. I think I’d like normal, I think maybe I’d even love it.” Normal had been long since forgotten by both of them— a faded memory of a protracted childhood that became the stuff of nightmares. The next words that left Cara’s lips almost caused Kahlan to fall off her chair. “Do you want kids?” The horrified look on Kahlan’s face sufficed as an answer. “Me neither,” Cara said, releasing a puff of air.

“I mean, we could get a pet — a small, quiet one.”

“How about a gecko?” Cara offered.

“Perfect,” Kahlan said, “A gecko would be perfect.” They both laughed, realizing that after all they’d lived through, they both just wanted to get through the trial, and enjoy a peaceful life together.

“I think we should do all the stuff we used to talk about.” Cara pursed her lips for a moment. “Maybe I’ll even start painting again.”

Kahlan’s entire face lit up. “That would be wonderful.” She was tempted to lean in and kiss her but the café was filled with lawyers and court employees — not to mention that it was time to get back to the courthouse. She walked in with a spring in her step and a renewed sense of confidence. That Cara was feeling hopeful about the future and revisiting her lifelong dreams made Kahlan more certain than ever that everything would be fine.

It took several more days, but they sat a jury that Kahlan felt was capable of rendering an impartial verdict. She had succeeded at developing a reasonable amount of rapport with the jurors, and while she and Mike had a few heated debates during the jury selection process, Kahlan remained equanimous throughout the entire process. Mike did a lot of teeth grinding and fist clenching as he made meaningful eye contact with several of the male jurors. In doing so, he inadvertently telegraphed his courtroom strategy. Mike’s plan was to paint Cara as a vixen driven by jealousy and greed.

“I’ve got this, baby,” Kahlan said to her, as she put her files in the briefcase and closed it.

Cara smirked, and said, “I know you do.”

***

On the drive back to the apartment, a rather persistent — and loud — reminder notification startled Kahlan. “What is that awful sound?’

“It’s an Evernote reminder I set for your overdue mail.”

“How do I make it shut up? It’s horrible.”

Cara shook her head and laughed. “I’ll do it,” she said, “but you have to promise me you’ll read it. Otherwise my organization scheme will go straight to hell.”

“A little dramatic, don’t you think?” Kahlan asked as they pulled into the parking garage.

“I’ll get dinner started while you read your mail. I suggest you hurry, otherwise the reminder notification’ll go off again.”

Kahlan rolled her eyes and walked over to her laptop. She read the letter three times before calling out to Cara who had already changed into her classic boy shorts and her Nirvana T-shirt. “Cara,” she called out, “come look at this. Have you ever heard of this place?”

Cara smugly crossed her arms and said, “Why yes, I have. San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world. It has a land mass of 23.63 square miles and a population of approximately 30,000 people. The official language is Italian, but Spanish is also widely spoken, and their currency is the Euro.”

Kahlan’s eyes widened and she scratched her head. “And you know this because?”

“Clearly, because I’m a genius.” Kahlan tipped her head and waited for a more plausible reply. “Fine,” Cara finally said, “I have no life so while you’re working I play Trivial Pursuit on your iPad.”

“That explains why my iPad’s gone missing.”

Cara gave an apologetic shrug. “It’s all part of my master plan. By the time the trial is over, my brain’ll be stuffed with all the useless information I need to become Jeopardy champion. I’ll use part of my winnings to buy you a new iPad, of course.”

“Whatever you say, baby. Now can you please read it?” Much like Kahlan had, she read it several times.

“It looks pretty legit,” Cara said. Kahlan nodded in agreement. “But,” Cara said at length, “maybe we should have someone look into it before making up our minds.”

Kahlan released a deep sigh. “By someone I take it you mean Maxine?”

“I do, but not if it’s going to piss you off. She’s done a great job so far. You said so yourself. She made a bad decision, Kahlan, but she’s not a bad person.”

Firing her had been a knee-jerk reaction, and she knew it. “Her loyalties are divided, baby. Trusting her again could be a huge mistake. I just can’t be sure.”

“So don’t trust her. Let’s ask her to look into this letter as a one-time shot. If she does anything even remotely suspicious, we’ll have our answer.”

Kahlan’s instincts had never betrayed her before. She’d trusted Maxine from the very beginning and, truth be told, she still did. That Maxine had lied to her was undeniable but she had no reason to suspect that her intentions had been malicious. With a deep intake of air, she walked into the bedroom and made the call. At her request, Maxine would look into the matter immediately. It would be a one-time arrangement, as she was no longer retained permanently.

The letter in question was the one bearing the seal of San Marino that had briefly piqued Kahlan’s interest. It claimed that an unnamed witness wanted to come forward with important information regarding Cara’s case. Why someone from some obscure European country she’d never heard of before would step forward with evidence regarding Cara’s case at this late hour, mystified her. Cara, on the other hand, didn’t seem all that surprised. In fact, by the look of deep concentration on her face, it looked as if she were piecing together a puzzle –– one that she didn’t necessarily want to share with Kahlan, at least not yet. “Okay,” Kahlan said as she walked out of the bedroom, “Maxine is looking into it.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since it's taken me the better part of a century to post, I'll skip the summary and go straight to the chapter.

Bright and early the next morning, Maxine called Kahlan. “The letter’s legit. An envoy from San Marino flew into town in a private jet a couple of days ago. Some bigwigs are supposed to follow. Come to think of it, they may already be here. I have no idea who this witness is but it’s definitely someone important. Three entire floors of the Aydindril Plaza are booked exclusively for these San Marino peeps; the place is crawling with security.”

“But we have no idea as to the evidence in question?” Kahlan paced in front of the sofa with her phone practically glued to her ear.

“Nothing yet,” Maxine said, “but if it’s okay with you, I’ll swing by the Plaza. A friend of mine has a valet parking gig there. It’s worth a try.”

“Go,” Kahlan said. “Call me if you find out anything at all.” After a short pause, she added, “Thank you.”

All the while, Cara was leaning on the threshold of the bedroom door without saying a word. The gears in her head were definitely turning, but the expression on her face gave away nothing — to anyone who wasn’t Kahlan, that is.

“Well,” Kahlan said, “it’s time for me to arrange an interview with our mystery witness.”

Cara walked into the living room and pressed the front of her body to Kahlan’s back. “I’ll make us some coffee,” she said, and kissed her on the nape of her neck.

Kahlan took a deep breath, and walked into the bedroom to make the call. A man with a thick Italian accent informed her that they would gladly accommodate her schedule, and provide security for her and her client, if necessary. From that single remark, she discerned that the government of this obscure European country was not only willing to incur major expenses to bring forth this testimony, they were willing to bend over backwards to make certain that nothing or no one prevented this witness from testifying.

Cara handed Kahlan a cup of coffee when she got off the phone. She held it in her hand for a long moment without saying a word, or taking a sip of it. “I scheduled the interview with the witness for this afternoon.” She then sat on the sofa and Cara promptly joined her. “I really don’t know what to make of any of this,” she said, “but I’m going to see it through.” She nuzzled Cara’s hair and kissed her eyelids, her nose, and her lips. “Now then,” she asked, “what is it?”

“What’s what?”

“That look you’ve had on your face all morning.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “It’s the look of someone who’s hungry. And can you please stop doing that mind-probing thing?”

Kahlan narrowed her eyes. “That’s not hunger, that’s you looking like the cat who ate the canary. What are you not telling me, Cara?”

“I’m not telling you anything. I mean, I’m not 'not telling you' anything.”

Kahlan let out a puff of air. “Wow, you are a terrible liar.” Before Cara could say anything in her own defense, Kahlan figured it out for herself. Within seconds, she was on her feet. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, throwing her arms up in frustration. “Have you been in contact with her all along?”

“In contact with who?” Cara asked.

“Cara.” Kahlan said, shooting her an angry look. She took a deep breath and paused for a second. “Your Catalonian booty call, that’s who. Please don’t make me say her name. I swear I’ll break up with you, if you do.”

“Yeah, Kahlan, I’ve been corresponding with her via messenger pigeon every day. Will you please chill? Look, she’s the only European person I know who’d have any interest in saving my ass. But that —”

“Yes, I’m sure she’s quite fond of your ass.” Her eyes were doing that weird, black, swirly thing they always did when she was about to blow a gasket. “It’s Paloma, the witness is Paloma,” Kahlan said with complete certainty. “According to Sabrina, she’s on the NSA’s radar, so coming to Aydindril could very well get her arrested. What is her connection to San Marino? And why would they go to such lengths to keep her safe? Who’s protecting her, Cara?”

Cara furrowed her brow and shrugged. “How should I know? I told you, her and I were just —”

Kahlan hissed and shook her head. “Yes, I know, it was just sex. I didn’t buy it when you first told me about her, and I’m not buying it now. People don’t take the types of risks she’s taken just to help out a casual fuck-buddy. What really went on between the two of you? As your lawyer, I need to know, and as someone who is hoping to build a life with you, I have the right to know.”

This was Cara's worst nightmare. While she was able to shrug off Kahlan’s relationship with Sabrina pretty easily, she knew Kahlan wouldn’t be as philosophical about Paloma. “Kahlan, we’ve gone over this. Paloma and I were close, she cares, and she has that whole viva la revolución thing happening. She’d do pretty much anything to stick it to the man.”

“Do you love her?”

“Will you please let that go, already? I love you, Kahlan. I’ve always loved you. Why can’t you get that through that gorgeous skull of yours?”

Kahlan thought for a long moment. “Because you went back. I know you, Cara; if she meant nothing to you, you would not have gone back. She wasn’t some random one-night-stand; you were in a relationship with her. So I’ll ask you again, what was she to you?”

Cara collapsed onto the sofa in defeat. “She was my friend, Kahlan. We talked, and yeah, we had sex — lots of sex — but more than anything else, Paloma was my friend, the only friend I had. Or at least I thought she was my friend, but really, she told me a bunch of lies. I wasn’t in love with her and she knew that, but she still did everything she could to make me feel loved.”

Cara remained seated while Kahlan paced in front of her with her arms crossed. “I’m going to attempt to have a rational conversation with you, Kahlan. The goal here is to keep me out of prison so that you can buy me a big rock and we can live happily ever after. If she-who-shall-not-be-named has some master plan going, I say we let it ride. I told you, she’s resourceful as hell and she’s well-connected. Obviously she’s willing to stick her neck out for me, so why not let her do some of the heavy lifting? And besides, we don’t even know if she has anything to do with this.”

Kahlan still looked as if smoke were on the verge of blowing out of her ears, but she calmed down enough to sit down next to Cara. “You are mine. If that Euro-trash 'ho lays one finger on you, I’ll be the one on trial for murder.”

Cara chuckled and kissed her on the nose. “I’ll make breakfast. You can’t go on a murder spree on an empty stomach.”

That last remark finally coaxed a smile out of Kahlan. “I’m sorry I lost my temper. It’s just that…you had feelings for her — don’t bother denying it — and she’s obviously in love with you. And I’m sure she’s gorgeous, and she has a sexy accent, and she’s probably dying to get you back in the sack, and —”

“Stop,” Cara said. “You’re getting yourself all worked up again. I love you. I’ve always loved you. I’ve never loved anyone but you so relax, that’s never going to change, okay?” Kahlan nodded and nuzzled Cara’s hair.

That didn’t prevent her from spending the rest of the morning trying on various outfits, hairdos, lipstick colors, shoes, earrings, and at one point, even a couple of hats. Cara didn’t say a word; she just watched as every item of clothing Kahlan owned ended up on the bed, and with shoes scattered everywhere. The end product of Kahlan’s wardrobe curation, Cara had to admit, was perfect. Her outfit was effortlessly chic, her makeup was subtle yet sexy, and her hair rivaled any shampoo commercial spot on a major network.

“How do I look?” she asked, knowing that she looked gorgeous.

Cara pursed her lips. “Like a beautiful woman whose closet exploded and I’m going to have to clean it up.” Kahlan frowned. “Kidding. You take my breath away.” That remark earned her a smile and an air kiss.

“That’s all I get?” Cara asked, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

Kahlan gestured an apology with her hands. “I don’t want to wreck my makeup.”

“Do you try this hard to make a good impression on all your witnesses?” Cara asked with a smirk on her face. Kahlan pulled a face and tossed a pillow at her on the way out.

***

After Kahlan left, Cara started to worry about how Kahlan meeting Paloma would affect their relationship. Although it pretty much made for the threesome of her dreams, the prospect of Kahlan and Paloma being in the same room made her more than a little nervous. She was secretly hoping this witness turned out to be some big, hairy guy who just happened to see someone, other than her, killing Darken and the two guards; it was wishful thinking and she knew it.

While she’d repeatedly told Kahlan that her relationship with Paloma was purely sexual, there had been moments, many moments, in which it went deeper than that. Aside from Kahlan, Paloma was the only woman with whom Cara had let her guard down. It may not have been love, but it was certainly more than just sex, and Kahlan would see it the moment she came face to face with Paloma. Cara reasoned that they both lived their lives during the years they’d been apart, but when it came to Cara and other women, reason wasn’t something to which Kahlan ascribed.

Cara was secretly hoping Paloma had shaved her head and gotten a gigantic facial tattoo –– anything that would quell Kahlan’s jealousy, although she felt a little guilty for even having that thought. For as much as finding out that Paloma had lied to her was a huge disappointment, Cara couldn’t deny that she’d always been good to her. She also had no doubt that Paloma was risking her freedom, and possibly her life, for the sake of getting her out of jam. “I hope you know what you’re doing, P.”

***

The interview was to take place in one of the conference rooms at the Aydindril Plaza. Maxine’s description of the security measures was not exaggerated. Four members of the San Marino entourage swept the room for surveillance equipment before Kahlan walked in. There was a second door on the opposite side of the conference room that Kahlan correctly discerned led to a suite through which the witness would emerge. Her gaze was fixed on that door, and her heart was beating faster than she would have liked. It wasn’t until the door opened that Kahlan noticed she’d been holding her breath.

Four burly men escorted the witness into the conference room. Although Kahlan’s Italian wasn’t very good, she was able to discern that the witness told them to wait outside.

“You are Kahlan Amnell, yes?”

Kahlan nodded and extended her hand; the witness promptly did the same. “And you are?” Kahlan asked, although she already knew the answer.

“My name is Paloma Florin.” She wasn’t at all how Kahlan had imagined her. She was in her early twenties —which surprised Kahlan — her voice was soothing and gentle, her movements were as graceful as a dancer’s, and her eyes were beautiful to the point of being hypnotic. She could definitely see why Cara was attracted to her. Kahlan wanted to hate her but there was something about her that made it impossible. “Sit down, please,” she said.

They sat facing each other across the conference table; it took Kahlan a moment to step into lawyer mode. “Ms. Florin —”

“Call me Paloma, please,” she said.

Kahlan nodded. “Paloma, I would like to record our conversation, if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course,” she said.

“Where did you meet my client?”

She smiled for a moment before answering. “We met in Barcelona, at a nightclub. We had a very good time together.” Kahlan had to bite her tongue to keep from making a snarky remark.

“And what was the nature of your relationship?”

“Cara was lonely,” she said, getting lost in her own thoughts for a moment. “She had no family, no one she felt she could trust. We became friends and also lovers.”

“Was your initial encounter with my client intentional?”

Paloma looked at her pointedly. “Not completely, no. I am a journalist by trade. Cara’s employer was suspected of involvement in human trafficking and other crimes. I approached her because I was working on an article.”

“You contacted me regarding evidence in my client’s case. What exactly is that evidence and are there any other corroborating witnesses?” 

“I witnessed two men drugging Cara and putting her in a box full of rodents. I heard them say that her showing up early in Mexico City made her the perfect fall guy for Darken Rahl’s murder.”

Kahlan’s lips parted. “You heard them say that Cara was going to be framed for Rahl’s murder?”

“Yes, and they also said that Cara would be 'six feet under soon enough'. Those were the exact words they used.”

“Is there anyone who can corroborate your version of the events?”

“No one who can come into this country without being arrested or perhaps killed.” Kahlan sighed and clenched her fists. “But,” Paloma added, “I have this.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and proceeded to play twenty minutes of video that showed exactly what happened. The audio was a bit sketchy but the video was practically broadcast quality.

Kahlan swallowed hard and stopped recording. She walked around the table and sat next to Paloma. “If you testify, the NSA will come after you. You’re listed in their database as a threat to national security. You’ll be arrested.”

Paloma shrugged and gave her a weak smile. “My situation will be uncomfortable but tolerable. Cara is what matters now.” Kahlan had no idea what she meant by that, but Paloma was right, Cara was what mattered at the moment.

Kahlan furrowed her brow, “You love her that much?”

Paloma covered Kahlan’s hand with hers and said, “Cara is very special to us both. It has been an honor to meet you.” With that, she disappeared into the suite.

Kahlan sat in the empty conference room for several minutes. She had taken for granted that Paloma was tall, beautiful, and had a nice rack; she was right on all counts — Cara had always had a type. But in her imagination, Paloma was brash and aggressive and overtly sexual, but in reality she was none of those things. “You are full, of surprises, Cara.” She shook her head and walked out of the conference room.

Just as she was about to get in the elevator, Maxine showed up. “The witness is a woman,” Maxine blurted out. “Her name is Paloma Florini; she’s smoking hot, and get this, she’s the wife of one Matteo Florin, the President of San Marino. They got married three weeks ago.” She’d already met Paloma by then so that part was old news. The part about Paloma having married President Florin stunned her for a moment. Then Kahlan tipped her head and started piecing together the complex puzzle that was the lovely Paloma.

“Diplomatic immunity,” she said. “She married him so that she could testify without getting arrested.”

“Dang, I guess she and Cara are tight.” That last remark earned her a death glare. “But I don’t get it, why would she need diplomatic immunity? Is she a criminal or something?”

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “Not exactly, she’s a heroic revolutionary fighting for social justice and equality across the globe. And apparently, willing to go to great lengths to protect my girlfriend.”

“So she hangs out with the Zapatistas singing Manu Chao songs, and she rides a motorcycle?”

“I doubt that, but I’m sure she would if Cara asked her to.”

Maxine finally got wise to the situation. “Um, now that I think of it, she wasn’t that hot, just sort of lukewarm.” Noticing the look Kahlan shot her, she decided to stop talking.

“I have to run an errand, then I’m heading home,” Kahlan said. “You should do the same. The weather is getting ugly.” Maxine nodded and went on her way.

On the drive home, all Kahlan could think about was Paloma, and all of the ways in which she was perfect. By Cara’s own admission, she’d had sexual liaisons with many women in the last few years, and Kahlan had, too. Except that none of her booty calls could hold a candle to Paloma. “Hell, I’d marry her,“ she mumbled as she parked her car.

Cara, who had been staring at the door for hours, practically fell off the sofa when she heard Kahlan’s footsteps in the hallway. “How did it go?” she asked, as she flung the door open.

Kahlan’s hand went to her own chest. “Oh my God, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

Cara pulled her into her arms and kissed her. “Sorry, I’ve been staring at the door since you left. How did it go with the witness? It wasn’t Paloma, right? Please tell me it wasn’t Paloma.”

Kahlan furrowed her brow. “You’re rambling,” she said. “I don’t remember you ever rambling before.”

Cara released a puff of air. “Okay, I won’t ever ramble again. Are you going to tell me who this witness is? My guess is Darken rose from the grave just to fuck with me.”

Kahlan tipped her head and nodded. “Interesting theory. Now please kiss me again.” Cara was getting increasingly impatient, but she decided to comply with Kahlan’s request. “Mm, you are such a good kisser.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Paloma is the witness,” Kahlan said after a long silence.

Cara plunked onto the sofa and hung her head. “Did you kill her? Please tell me you didn’t kill her.”

Without answering the question, Kahlan poured them each a drink and sat next to Cara. “You have excellent taste in women. Paloma wasn’t at all what I expected, ” she said after emptying her glass. Cara wrinkled her forehead and stared at her. “I’m serious, she’s amazing. She’s beautiful, intelligent, kind, courageous, a class act all the way. Oh and those eyes are incredible. She has the softest hands, too.”

Cara scratched her head. “Is this your subtle way of telling me you’re leaving me for Paloma?”

Kahlan shrugged and gestured with her hands. “I have to say, the thought did cross my mind. The woman is perfect.” She tossed off her shoes and sat on Cara’s lap. “But you chose me which can only mean that you're madly in love with me.”

“You’re just now realizing that?” Cara asked. “Also, are you going to tell me about this evidence Paloma has?”

“She has a video of what happened to you in Mexico. The audio quality isn’t great but you can make out the voices of two men saying they’re going to frame you for Rahl’s murder.”

“Do you think that’ll be enough to get me acquitted?”

After weighing the question for a minute, she said, “It certainly meets the standard for reasonable doubt, but we still need to overcome the fact that your prints are on the murder weapon.” She kissed Cara on the nose they feel asleep on the sofa with Cara’s face — as usual — buried in Kahlan’s cleavage.

***

“You’re leaving already?" a very naked Cara asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and yawning. “It’s still dark outside.”

“Baby,” she said, tucking her head down to kiss each of Cara’s nipples. “Can this be my breakfast every morning?” Cara gave her a sleepy nod. “I wish I could stay but I need to talk to the judge. I’m past the deadline for introducing new evidence. I have to impress upon him that it wasn’t due to negligence, but that I couldn’t foresee that a witness would step forward.”

Cara pursed her lips and tipped her head. “Okay, I guess that’s a reasonable explanation for depriving me of morning sex with the most gorgeous attorney on the planet.”

***

“Your Honor, this witness has evidence that could exonerate my client. Ms. Mason is facing a possible death sentence. I urge you to grant me permission to add this person to the witness list.”

“Your honor, I vehemently object. The rules of evidence are in place for the sake of justice.”

Judge Hammett looked between the two of them for a long moment. “Mr. Cypher has a good point, Ms. Amnell.” He paused, and looked between them a second time; Kahlan’s heart was beating so fast, she could hardly stand it. “And if the defendant weren’t facing capital punishment, I would rule in your favor. But I cannot, in good conscience, disallow evidence that could prove the defendant’s innocence when her very life is on the line,” the judge said, turning his head just enough to make eye contact with Mike. “I will allow the new evidence.”

“For the record, Your Honor, the State strongly objects.”

“Duly noted, Mr. Cypher. Your objection will be added to the record.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Kahlan released a breath she’d been holding for far too long.

***

Knowing that Cara probably attempted to calm her nerves by cleaning the apartment with enough zeal to scrape the paint off the walls, Kahlan called her from the car to share the good news. “Yes,” Cara said with an accompanying fist pump. “Are you almost here?”

Kahlan chuckled a bit. “No, I’m stuck in traffic but I’m glad you miss me.”

“I hate traffic. Come home already; I made lunch.”

“Everybody hates traffic, baby. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. We have a lot to talk about.” That remark was met with dead silence. “Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m on house arrest. Where else would I be? What are we going to talk about?”

Kahlan laughed and rolled her eyes. “Wow, someone’s on edge today. Just relax, I’ll be home soon.”

When she got home, she found Cara sprawled on the living room rug in nothing but her underwear. Kahlan released a deep sigh. “It is good to be home,” she said as she enjoyed the view. “Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

“Good plan,” Cara said with a firm nod. “But you have to kiss me first.”

With a big grin on her face, Kahlan stretched out her hand and pulled Cara to her feet. She gave her a long lingering kiss, and allowed her hands to do quite a bit of roaming. “Mm, now I’m hungry for something other than lunch,” she said.

Cara smirked. “Lunch first,” she said, “I can’t have my lawyer lose her luscious curves.”

“Lunch it is, then.”

***

The post-lunch conversation was all about strategy. Kahlan had already decided the order in which she would call her witnesses, and she was going to spend the next few days prepping them. Paloma coming forward with new evidence was a game changer that she planned on taking full advantage of, but it was also risky. In some circles, Paloma’s political views made her a threat to national security. That the NSA had compiled a long dossier on her would certainly be brought up by the prosecution. Still, the contents of that video was too powerful to dismiss. But it wasn’t only the videos that Kahlan was banking on, it was Paloma. Kahlan had no doubt that every juror, male or female, would fall a little in love with her. That gentle smile, those eyes, the tone of her voice, her delicate movements, and that aura of vulnerability she exuded, those were things Kahlan was banking on.

Richard was scheduled to arrive in two days which would allow him to spend some quality with Cara. Kahlan never understood the peculiar bond between those two but it was going to work to her benefit. Richard had a calming influence on Cara, and he always managed to make her laugh; she needed Cara to be in good spirits in the days leading up to the trial. Kahlan was also hoping that seeing how well he was doing would allow Cara to finally let go of the misplaced guilt she’d been carrying since the accident. Richard and Paloma were her two aces in the hole. They both had important evidence to bring to light and they were both compelling witnesses. And more importantly, they both loved Cara — albeit in different ways.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post. RL sucks.

The doorbell rang at 6:36AM, rousing both Kahlan and Cara from a sound sleep. Kahlan had the presence of mind to throw on a robe before opening the door; Cara walked out of the bedroom and into the living room in nothing but her underwear. “Richard?” Kahlan asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What are you doing here?” Richard didn’t answer; he was too busy admiring Cara’s pert breasts. “Will you stop staring at her like that?” she said, giving him a shove for good measure. “And you,” she said to Cara, “cover those things up.” Cara shrugged with a smirk as she glanced over at Richard before walking back toward the bedroom.

“I caught an early flight,” he said to Kahlan, as he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, “it’s nice to see you, too.”

Kahlan rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, pulling him into a tight embrace. “We weren’t expecting you until this afternoon.”

“Hey, keep your paws off my woman, buddy,” Cara called out from the bedroom.

“‘Your woman’,” he echoed with a big grin on his face. “I take it you two have come to your senses?” Kahlan blushed a bit and nodded. “And since when do you wear flannel?” he said to Cara who walked out of the bedroom wearing the pajamas Kahlan had gifted her.

That’s when Cara noticed that he was no longer using the aluminum elbow crutches he’d used for support since regaining limited use of his legs. “Ricky,” she said, “are your legs…?” she trailed off, staring at him in disbelief.

“First of all, don’t call me Ricky, or you’ll be needing crutches.”

“Hey, don’t threaten my baby with violence,” Kahlan said, pulling Cara into her arms.

Richard rolled his eyes. “Fine, and yes, to answer your question — or whatever that was — it’s taken a lot of hard work but I’m down to a leg brace,” he said, pulling up his trouser to show off his accomplishment.

“That’s wonderful,” Kahlan said to him with a huge grin on her face. “I’ll make breakfast while you two catch up.”

“How are you holding up?” he asked Cara as they settled down on the sofa.

She thought for a long moment before answering. “I don’t know. If it weren’t for Kahlan, I think I would have jumped out a window by now. There’s been so many times when I just wanted to bail but I couldn’t do that to her, not after everything I’ve put her through. It blows my mind that we found our way back to each other.”

“She loves you, she always has. The trial is going to be rough for both of you. You have to stay strong, and be positive. Everything is going to work out, it has to.” Cara released a long breath and nodded.

As she walked out of the kitchen, Kahlan felt the palpable intensity between them. “Baby,” she said, “help me with the coffee.”

Cara jumped to her feet. “Is everything all right?” she asked Cara before pressing a kiss to the shell of her ear. “You and Richard seemed a bit tense.”

“Not at all. He was just giving me one of his Vince Lombardi pep talks.”

“Who’s Vince Lombardi?” she asked. “Never mind. Let’s have breakfast. I’m starving.”

After breakfast, Richard pulled out his iPad and showed them dozens of pictures of Nicholas. Every one of them came along with a story that inevitably ended with an explanation of all of the ways in which Nicky, as he called him, is a veritable genius. “He has Nicci’s eyes,” he said, “but everyone says he looks just like me.”

“He does,” Kahlan confirmed with a nod and a big grin on her face. Cara gazed over at Kahlan and Richard as she washed the dishes. They were chatting away as if they hadn’t a care in the world. It was nice to see them both happy, but at the same time it frightened her. Happiness, in her experience, served as harbinger for tragedy. She would have liked to stop time at that exact moment, with the three of them together, laughing and looking forward to the future.

“What’s with that look on your face?” Richard asked, glancing at Cara over his shoulder; she shrugged in response. “Whatever it is, stop it. You need to stay positive. This brooding thing you do isn’t going to help matters.” Cara nodded and released a deep sigh.

After finishing the dishes, she walked over to the window, staring out at the early morning fog; Richard quickly joined her. “It’s not even about me,” she said. “If I get convicted, Richard, I’ll be —”

“If you get convicted — which is not going to happen — we’ll appeal. Kahlan is a brilliant lawyer, Cara. She’s going to get you acquitted.”

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Kahlan asked, waving Richard’s iPad in her hand.

“Cara was just telling me how devastatingly handsome I am, but now I have to head back to my hotel. I’ll see you two at the courthouse tomorrow morning.” As he was about to walk out the door, he looked back at Cara over his shoulder. “Stay strong,” he said to her.

“Not so fast, my dear. I want to go over your testimony again.”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Kahlan, I’ve got this. We’ve gone over it a thousand times. Just ask Nicci, I mumble it in my sleep.”

“Give the guy a break,” Cara said. “He looks exhausted.”

“Fine,” Kahlan said, “but get plenty of rest. I need you at a hundred percent tomorrow.”

“I’ll be at a thousand percent.” He paused for a moment and gave Cara a meaningful look. “I’m not going to let you down.” With that, he gave them each a hug and went on his way.

As soon as he left, Kahlan encircled Cara’s waist, pressing her front to Cara’s back. “I love you,” she said to her and turned her around in her arms. “When all of this is over, I’d like us to go out on a date. I’m thinking dinner and a movie. After the movie we’ll go for a walk. We’ll hold hands, of course, and you’ll be wearing that big rock I’m going to buy you. If we walk past a pet shop, we can buy our pet gecko.” Cara didn’t say a word. “I think we should watch one of those French films about trains, or maybe an Italian movie about movies.” She waited for Cara to say something but she didn’t. Kahlan looked into her eyes and released a deep sigh. “Baby, you have to have faith in me, otherwise I can’t do this. I need your strength and I need to know that you believe in me.”

Cara sat on the sofa with her elbows resting on her knees. “No matter what the outcome is, I’ll be fine. We found our way back to each other. That’s enough for me. It really is, but I know it won’t be enough for you. You have to promise me that you’ll find a way to make it enough, and you’ll move on with your life.”

“Baby,” she said, “I’m going to win this case. Mike Cypher is an incompetent hack, Richard and Paloma are dream witnesses, and Denna and Shota are going to put the fear of God in Mike. Yes, your prints are on the murder weapon but that video Paloma dug up gives us reasonable doubt. And besides, Maxine is still digging for potential evidence. We have a sympathetic judge who isn’t willing to take your life without being absolutely sure that all of the evidence points to your guilt.”

Cara tipped her head. “Wow, you’re a way better motivational speaker than Richard is. Let me at that courtroom!” Kahlan laughed and kissed her on the lips.

They spent the rest of the day lounging around the apartment. Kahlan insisted that Cara remove those ghastly pajamas so that she could have access to ‘the goods,’ as she called them. There was a lot of giggling and kissing but absolutely no further mention of the trial. Save for the unsightly device on Cara’s ankle, the theme of the day was normalcy. Kahlan had decided on both their outfits several days ago, and Cara had organized all of Kahlan’s trial notes and placed them in her briefcase.

It was as if they were sixteen again and their whole lives were ahead of them. Even then, it hadn’t been the carefree life they deserved. That their one shot at happiness came down to a murder trial was more than a little ironic but given their history, it was strangely appropriate. If the trial did work out in their favor, there would be a long moment of jubilation, but all that had been lost along the way — Cara’s entire family, Kahlan’s mother, the heartbreak they’d both endured, and even the son Cara bore — would never be returned to them. That is the reality of this harsh world, and while on this day they have chosen to turn away from that reality, they both know that there are no guarantees in life. The trial is one day away, so they will allow themselves this illusion of normalcy and hope for the best.

***

Neither of them was particularly talkative as they got ready to head for the courthouse. There were a lot of deep breaths taken, and even more longing looks, but words didn’t come easily for either of them. Kahlan had her game face on the moment she got out of bed; Cara suspected it would stay there until the trial ended.

If Kahlan was at all nervous, the confident smile on her face and her body language gave nothing away. She held her briefcase in one hand, and rested the other one on the small of Cara’s back. Cara looked every bit like a deer caught in the headlights but she did remember to breathe, which had been her main goal for the day. This time they entered the courthouse via the main entrance, swooshing past reporters and photographers along the way. Since Kahlan hadn’t had any contact with the press during her other visits to the courthouse, all the reporters flocked toward her, leaving Cypher standing on the sidewalk all by himself. Given his penchant for attention, and for spewing meaningless sound bites, he was visibly rattled from the get-go, just as Kahlan had intended. “This is a chess game, baby,” Kahlan whispered Cara, “and I just toppled over one of Mike’s rooks.” By way of response, Cara released a breath — which she counted as a major victory.

Upon entering the courtroom, Kahlan immediately spotted the Rimbauds. She didn’t like it one bit but she wasn’t about to let it bother her. Whether the Rimbauds were friends or foes depended upon how these proceedings affected their son. Kahlan empathized but her only concern was keeping Cara out of prison. If she ruffled the Rimbauds’ feathers along the way, so be it. Unlike Mike, Kahlan had no political aspirations — at least not at the moment. Therefore, making enemies out of Colette and Sabine didn’t bother her in the least. She said a polite hello and moved on. Seconds later Zedd walked into the courtroom — wearing a blue Hugo Boss suit no less, and shoes – real, actual shoes – not those hippie sandals he usually wore. Kahlan gave him a hug, and Cara offered an approving nod. Richard, no doubt, had served as his grandfather’s fashion consultant.

Minutes later, Denna and Shota made their grand entrance, just as Kahlan had hoped. They wore matching white Chanel pantsuits, and as a bonus, Denna was sporting a gigantic diamond on the ring finger of her left hand. Shota made a point of shooting Mike a look that was every bit a threat. Mike was fully aware that Shota could make or break his career which practically guaranteed he would treat Denna with kid gloves. In fact, he was probably regretting that he’d subpoenaed her in the first place.

“All rise for Judge Samuel D. Hammett,” the bailiff said, looking out at the gallery.

“Good morning, members of the jury,” the judge said. “Thank you for your punctuality. Our first order of business today is the opening statements. Mr. Cypher, please proceed.”

Cypher glared at Cara for a long moment before going into his opening statement. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here today because a prominent member of our community, along with two of his employees, was brutally murdered.” He punctuated the sentence by glaring at Cara a second time. “You are going to hear plenty of testimony as to what a bad man Darken Rahl was, and about all the monstrosities he committed. Really, the defense will attempt to convince you that the murder victims in this case are the ones who should be prosecuted. However, the only monstrosity here is the waste of taxpayer money that will be spent on this trial. You see, this is what we lawyers call an open and shut case.

“The defendant could save all of you a whole lot of time and money by simply confessing and taking responsibility for her crimes. You see, the defendant’s fingerprints were on the murder weapon, her hands were covered with gunpowder residue, and she was found at the scene of the crime.” He paused, allowing the jurors to take in his words. “Now, I could very well rest my case since all of you have already concluded that she’s guilty, because, let’s face it, it doesn’t take a genius to put together the facts of this case.” He walked to the jury box and rested his hands on the railing. “Yes, these are facts. They are not theories, they are not speculations. The facts of this are that the defendant’s prints are on the murder weapon and she was at the scene of the crime with said weapon. Unfortunately, our legal system demands that we allow the defense to attempt to convince you that your eyes are lying to you, to convince you to suspend disbelief long enough to ignore the facts which, I repeat, are that the defendant’s prints were on the murder weapon and the defendant was at the scene of the crime. That’s it, folks, nothing more to see here.”

Cypher shot Kahlan a smug look as he walked back to his seat.

“Ms. Amnell, smiling as always,” the judge said. “Are you ready to proceed?” Kahlan tipped her head and nodded.

She released a deep breath, and said, “Well, that was quite a speech the prosecution gave us, ladies and gentleman of the jury.” She slowly paced in front of them, making eye contact with each of them. “Mr. Cypher is encouraging all of you to ignore the principles of our legal system. He doesn’t want you to bother to consider the rest of the evidence in this case, and he doesn’t want any witnesses to be called to the stand. So why have a trial at all? Why not just toss people in jail or, in this case, take someone’s life?” She paused for a moment, gauging the jurors’ reactions. “I think by now all of you see the problem with his speech,” she said, raising her index finger for effect, “it violates not only the defendant’s rights but the rights of everyone in this nation.

“So let me pose a question to all of you: if this were your spouse, or your child, or even a random acquaintance, would you want them to have the right to present evidence of their innocence? Would you demand that their rights be upheld? Would you want every conceivable piece of evidence to come to light? Would you sentence a young woman to death without examining all of the evidence? Because that’s what Mr. Cypher is suggesting that you do. The fact is that Mr. Cypher would have all of you take the defendant’s life without allowing for the possibility of her innocence. Mr. Cypher is presuming her guilt, but that isn’t how our legal system works, ladies and gentleman of the jury. And I don’t believe that anyone in this courtroom would be willing to pass judgment without examining the evidence. Don’t allow Mr. Cypher, or anyone else, to take away this defendant’s rights because those are your rights, too. And shame on anyone who suggests that you do so. Mr. Cypher seems inclined to appoint himself as judge and executioner in this case, but you, the members of this jury, are better than that. Throughout the course of this trial the defense will present real evidence — not the meaningless sound bites and catchphrases Mr. Cypher offered in his opening argument.”

After Kahlan stopped talking, a deafening silence filled the courtroom but within seconds several people in the gallery applauded, including members of a human rights organization that had taken interest in the case. Cara’s arrest, and the press coverage that followed, had shone a light on judicial misconduct and corruption. The people of Aydindril had clearly taken notice. The tone of Mike’s opening statements did not sit well with the gallery — it reeked of the type of railroading that the general public was no longer willing to tolerate — especially since the image of Cara’s fourth-grade picture was seared into their psyches.

The judge banged his gavel and called for order in the court. “Given the spirited opening statements, I think this is a perfect opportunity to break for lunch.”

“This is going to be a doozy,” the judge said to the bailiff on the way out.

“We’re winning,” Cara said to Kahlan as they left the courtroom, “I think we’re winning.”

That remark put a big smile on Kahlan’s face. “You are beyond adorable,” she said to Cara.

“Yeah, I know, but are we winning, right?”

Kahlan chuckled and shook her head. “It’s too early to call it, but yes, I would say we’re winning.”

“I knew it,” Cara said with a small fist pump. “Let’s go eat something, you need your strength.”

Quite coincidentally, the Rimbauds chose the same café for lunch as Kahlan and Cara did. It was more than a little awkward for all of them but they exchanged polite greetings and sat at separate tables. Colette and Sabine made every effort to not stare at Cara but given her striking resemblance to their son, it wasn’t easy.

On their way out, Colette tapped Kahlan on her shoulder. “I know you’re still angry at me, Ms. Amnell, but I’d like to pass on a bit of wisdom that your mother shared with me once. She told me to never underestimate the power of a great face; your client has such a face. Her eyes are filled with emotion, and her gaze is pure feelings. Have her make eye contact with the jurors from time to time. It will pay dividends.”

“Thank you,” Kahlan said. She wanted to stay angry at them but it wasn’t easy. Much like Cara, Sabine had one of those faces that could melt the polar ice caps with a single glance. Kahlan realized that Sabine was Colette’s secret weapon, and hence never left her side.

“What did she say to you?”

Kahlan pursed her lips and tipped her head before answering. “She told me to take advantage of that beautiful mug of yours, and of those gorgeous eyes. She’s right, but I know that you’re nervous so only make eye contact with the jurors if it feels right to you.” Cara nodded.

***

The gallery was positively buzzing with anticipation as the judge calmly re-entered the courtroom.

“Mr. Cypher, call your first witness,” he said.

“I call Richard Cypher to the stand, Your Honor.” A collective gasp was heard from the gallery. Richard rose to his feet and walked toward the witness stand to be sworn in. By the look on Mike’s face, it was clear that he was under the impression that Richard was still wheelchair-bound. He blinked twice and his lips parted at the sight of his little brother standing on his own two feet; it took him a long moment to gather himself. Cara’s face lit up at the sight of Richard confidently walking to the witness stand. Kahlan quickly realized that Mike’s strategy had been to present Richard’s disability as emblematic of Cara’s crimes. The barely noticeable limp with which Richard walked to the stand would not serve his purpose in the least. Since his trousers concealed the brace on his leg, the limp could have easily been attributed to a pebble in his shoe.

“Mr. Cypher, do you a have a question for the witness, or are you just admiring his good looks?”

Mike clenched his jaw. “I apologize, Your Honor.”

He then turned to face Richard. “Mr. Cypher, please state your name for the record.”

“Richard Archibald Cypher.”

“And how did you come about that name, Mr. Cypher? Surely you weren’t born with it?”

Kahlan rose to her feet immediately, “Objection, Your Honor, baiting the witness.”

“Withdrawn, Your Honor. How long have you known the defendant, Mr. Cypher?”

“Since we were children. Cara had just turned ten when we met; I was a couple of days short of my thirteenth birthday.”

“And what were the circumstances of that first meeting?”

Richard paused for a moment before answering. “I was at the home of a childhood friend, Chase Montgomery. He was the first friend I made when my family moved to Aydindril. We’d only been here for a few months. Cara knocked on the back door. She was ten but she looked younger; she was tiny. Her arm was in a cast, and she had cuts and bruises all over.”

“And did she tell you how she got those injuries?”

“Darken Rahl beat her mercilessly,” Richard said.

“Mr. Cypher, isn’t it true that her injuries came about because she was a mentally disturbed child who jumped out of a window in an effort to harm herself?”

“No,” Richard said, emphatically, “that isn’t true. Cara was trying to get away from her abuser. And she would have if it were—”

“If it weren’t for what, Mr. Cypher?” Richard’s eyes were starting to tear up and he was struggling to form words. “May I remind you that you are under oath?”

“Answer the question, Mr. Cypher,” said the judge.

“If it weren’t for me,” Richard said, with tears streaking his cheeks. “This is all my fault,” he said, looking directly at Cara and then at the jury. “Cara would have gotten away from that monster if I hadn’t broken my promise, and kept her secret. But I did break my promise because I trusted you, Mike, and you swore you wouldn’t tell anyone. You were my big brother, Mike.”

“Isn’t it true that you were attempting to aid and abet a runaway and all I did was exercise my civic responsibility by informing the authorities?” Mike asked with smirk on his face.

“No, Mike, it’s not true. I was trying to help a little girl whose entire family was murdered by Darken Rahl’s goons get to safety. You were just using that little girl’s bad situation as a weapon to hurt me.”

“I move to strike that last statement from the record. It’s blatant slander.”

“I’ll allow it,” the judge said, “This witness’s take on the situation isn’t without merit.”

Mike clenched his fists, and the veins on his neck were throbbing. “Mr. Cypher, on April 10th, 2008 you were involved in a near-fatal car accident, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Richard answered.

“Please share the circumstances of that near-fatal accident with the jurors.”

“I was driving with some friends from Aydindril to Galea. Chase Montgomery was getting married a few days later. It was a reunion of old friends. Chase and Cara had known each other their whole lives. Darken forbade Cara from attending the wedding, but Chase refused to get married without her attending the ceremony. Cara defied Darken’s orders and drove to Galea.”

“Just as we were getting out of the car, a black Hummer with dark, tinted windows slammed into us at a high speed. Cara was just a few blocks away. She saw the whole thing. We’d be dead if it weren’t for her. She pulled me out of the burning car and gave me CPR, and she used a tourniquet to stop Dennee Amnell’s bleeding. She saved our lives.”

“So the heroic Ms. Mason,” Mike said, with air quotes around ‘heroic’, “knew she was putting people at risk by defying her father’s orders but she decided to go anyway.”

“Objection, Your Honor, my client can’t be held responsible for someone else’s actions, nor would any reasonable person assume that the adoptive father of a grown woman would attempt to kill innocent people as a means of disciplining said grown child.” She, too, resorted to air quotes to emphasize the word ‘disciplining’.

“Sustained.”

“No further questions, Your Honor.” Mike released a frustrated sigh and returned to his seat.

“Your witness,” the judge said.

“Mr. Cypher, you said that Ms. Mason had her arm in a cast on the day you met her, and that she had sustained injuries consistent with physical abuse. Can you elaborate on the nature of those injuries?”

“It was like nothing I’d ever seen. She had welts and belt marks on her arms and legs, and she had bruises on her neck that looked as if someone choked her. She also had scars and cigarette burns that had healed.”

“Mr. Cypher, in your opinion, could the injuries you saw have been self-inflicted?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Objection, Your Honor. Did Mr. Cypher suddenly become an expert on child abuse?”

“Sustained. Mr. Cypher isn’t qualified to answer that question, Ms. Amnell.”

“Withdrawn, Your Honor.”

“No further questions, Your Honor.”

“Court will reconvene tomorrow at 9:30AM,” the judge said, and swiftly left the courtroom.

***

When Cara and Kahlan got home, they found Richard sitting in the lobby. “So do you guys hate me?” Richard asked.

Cara and Kahlan looked at each other, and then at Richard. “Why would we hate you?”

“Because all of this is my fault. You would have made it to Kahlan’s boarding school had I not opened my big mouth.”

“Dude, you were just a kid. You trusted your big brother. How were you supposed to know he was such a dick?” Kahlan elbowed Cara in the ribs and shot her a look.

“No, she’s right; Mike is a dick,” Richard said with a shrug.

Kahlan chuckled. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

“Chase and his wife beat you to the punch. They’ve been cooking since this morning. I’m guessing that piece of jewelry on your ankle would explode if you drove across town to join us.”

“Something like that,” Cara said, “but when all of this is over, we’ll party like rock stars.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” he said, and went on his way.

***

Nothing that could lead to Cara’s acquittal had been revealed, but her heroic actions on the day of the accident certainly elevated her in the eyes of the jurors. Kahlan was certain that at least three of the jurors were already rooting for Cara — chief among them, Mr. Ames, the juror with the three little girls.

“Come here, baby,” Kahlan said guiding her onto the sofa. Cara promptly straddled her lap. “Let’s forget about the trial for a while. I just want to make out with my girlfriend — that would be you.”

“Good to know, I was worried for a second. Any chance I’ll get to, say, third base?”

“Hmm, it could happen,” she said, nibbling on Cara’s earlobe. “But you’re going to have to kiss me, and massage my shoulders. Oh, and your chance of getting to third base skyrockets if you take your shirt off.”

“Think I can live with that.”

“Good, now kiss me.”

Cara ended up rounding the bases more than once, which relieved most of Kahlan’s post-trial tension, but having to question Dennee in the morning weighed heavily on her. She tossed and turned for most of the night. By 3:00AM, she gave up on sleep and stared out the window. “Cara’s prints are on the murder weapon,” she mumbled, shaking her head.


End file.
